


knowing me, knowing you

by twiceshy (oncebitten)



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Superheroes/Superpowers, M/M, Past Character Death, Rooftop Conversations
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-15
Updated: 2017-04-22
Packaged: 2018-09-17 16:11:27
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 25,409
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9332852
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/oncebitten/pseuds/twiceshy
Summary: Unfortunately, neither helping to save the world nor retiring from the superhero life allowed Doyoung to avoid having to deal with his feelings for his best friend.





	1. Chapter 1

Taeyong saved the world once - maybe twice, depending on how you looked at it. Probably twice.

 

This was, of course, Doyoung's version of the events. Taeyong probably would have said that they all did the world-saving together as a team. That wouldn't be false either. Doyoung understood that it was a far more comfortable way of looking at things for Taeyong. Knowing that so much responsibility rested on your shoulders that you had to take care of all of humanity on occasion would have eroded anyone's sanity pretty instantly. It was better to think of yourself as part of a collective.

 

Some of their mentors from the Society must have seen it Doyoung's way though, because once the dust settled, Taeyong was as trusted as the Society's central members were. It felt like the natural order of things to everyone.

 

The change meant that when Taeyong summoned, they attended. They already always had for the most part, for Taeyong was a leader who made fair, decisive calls to action. It just felt more mandatory now, once they knew his instructions had the weight of bigger tasks from the Society thrown behind them.

 

It wasn't long ago that they were just the subterfuge team. They'd passed the mantle along now.

 

Taeyong had wanted to meet him at HQ. Doyoung went in civilian attire, but Taeyong was in his hero costume, his eyes hidden from view but a warm smile on his face.

 

They used to meet at less official places. Doyoung had seen the sparkles, glints and narrows of his insanely large eyes frequently.

 

"How's it been?" Taeyong asked as a greeting.

 

Doyoung shrugged. "You know. Rebuilding." They matched each other's steps as they walked to the plotting room.

 

"Best we could ask for at this point, I guess," Taeyong said. The lower half of his face settled into a thoughtful smile. He looked peaceful. The last time they'd spent time together, they'd salvaged the world together. Taeyong had looked exhausted. Doyoung had felt exhausted. It was two weeks ago to the day and it already felt like a different life. But the memories were too clear. He lived through them in his dreams again every night. The physical ache, the metallic scent of blood, the gaping hole in their team...except the last one remained when he woke up again.

 

Doyoung hadn't been able to shake his mental picture of Taeyong as a person with the weight of the world on his shoulders, but there he was. He still looked tired - helping to facilitate the reconstruction of society was hard on all of them - but it was a different kind of tired. He looked good.

 

"I'm going to resign," Taeyong said abruptly, not the type to beat around the bush for too long when there was something truly important to say. Doyoung halted in his steps.

 

_"What?"_

 

Taeyong turned back and smiled at him. "Resign with me?" he asked, like it wasn't absurd. Doyoung gave him a blank look. Taeyong walked back to where Doyoung stood, and placed a hand on his shoulder. It was nice, warm, sturdy. They hadn't touched outside of a battle in months. "We have someone to find," he said softly. He was close enough for Doyoung to feel the warmth of his breath when he spoke.

 

"You don't think he's dead either," Doyoung breathed, and relief flooded through his body. He hadn't allowed himself to dwell on the possibility. Their team saved the world from destruction, but the aftermath was still chaos. Billions of people were displaced from their homes, and the industries were mostly shut. Taeil's disappearance during the crisis ate at Doyoung every day, but he couldn't drop everything for one friend. Not when people's lives depended on him coordinating rescue and rebuild efforts in his city, and not without any assurance that Taeil was alive. It would have been irresponsible to abandon all the people who needed him just to save one friend. It was the way the team functioned - the world before the team, the collective before the individual. It was difficult to live by the principle of utilitarianism when your heart wasn't in it, but it was necessary as heroes.

 

Taeyong bit his lip. "I've been researching, the last two weeks." Doyoung's heart raced with hope in spite of himself. _Of course_ he wouldn't be summoned without reason. Then he gave Taeyong another look. Taeyong had been making the same efforts at the rebuilding process as he had, and that was a hefty load. He was willing to bet that he hadn't gotten more than thirty hours of sleep since the whole thing ended. He knew that Taeyong's eyebags would be terrifyingly dark under his mask. It wasn't an attractive look.

 

"You think we can find him," Doyoung stated.

 

"I do."

 

Doyoung took a shaky inhale. "Yeah. Yeah then. I'll resign too."

 

Taeyong grinned, happy and determined and encouraging. He reached up to release his mask from his face. The short seconds anticipating the sight of his eyes again made Doyoung's heart ache.

 

"I guess we're civilians now, Doyoungie."

 

His eyes. His smile.  _Doyoungie._

 

He finally remembered just how dangerous Taeyong was.

 

\---

 

There had been four of them at first: Hansol, Johnny, Doyoung, and Taeyong. All four were all born within a year and a half of each other. Their first successful mission had taken place on the twelfth of July, the year Doyoung turned sixteen. They'd named the team for the date.

 

Taeil was the first person absent from the 12/7 mission to join the team and the first person whose real name they all found out.

 

His addition could have been weird, but Taeyong had taken to him immediately. Maybe it was the fact that one of them was finally shorter than him, maybe it was something else. Taeil was older than all of them but not by much. Taeyong laughed at everything he said and thought he was 'adorable.'

 

Doyoung never saw the 'adorable,' but he _was_ kind and sweet and nice and steady and he didn't get in the way. And Taeyong liked him, so.

 

He became one of them pretty soon. There was a time Doyoung had wondered if Taeil was loyal and if he'd mess up the way their team worked. He wished he hadn't been so fretful, in retrospect. He'd do anything to get him back now.

 

\---

 

Seeing Taeyong in his costume gave the situation an air of finality. Taeyong rarely let his identities bleed into each other. He was either Track, the capable leader, or just Taeyong, who spent his days napping in his room, very rarely ever both. Even his voice sounded different when he switched from one to the other. The rest of them never drew such strict line between their identities. Doyoung had known him for _years_ and this was only the third time he'd seen Taeyong like this. They'd all been very significant events.

 

"Help me clear my room and I'll help you clear yours?" Taeyong offered. Doyoung had half a heart to tell him that he wanted to split up instead. Instead he shrugged and stepped over the threshold to Taeyong's room. The security system let him in. Taeyong never reprogrammed his system to keep Doyoung out.

 

Doyoung was suddenly very conscious of the lump in his throat. He redirected his attention to picking a logical course of action for clearing the room instead.

 

Taeyong's room was always neatly ordered and spotless. It was incongruent with his person, who continuously shifted from foot to foot, and overflowed with restless energy. It was easy to pack systematically. The books were all at the same place, his costumes and clothes neatly folded, and Doyoung knew the electronics and weapons were all sorted by category and placed in neat lines in the giant safe against the wall.

 

There was a large metal box in the middle of the room though. That hadn't been there the last time.

 

Taeyong caught Doyoung's gaze going to the box. "It's Society research," he explained. "I've been collecting all the relevant things about cross-dimensional travel the last few days. Thought we couldn't retire in peace if we had to keep stopping by the Society library every few days."

 

Doyoung lifted the lid and peered in. There were tomes and journals and bound papers, as well as a smaller box that was highly secure. "Looks heavy," he commented.

 

"I only asked you for help to use your telekinetic powers," Taeyong responded sunnily.

 

Doyoung rolled his eyes. "No, you did that because I'm smarter than you and you need my brains."

 

Taeyong smirked. "That's not the reason."

 

It  _was_ definitely at least half of the reason. They worked well together, they had a kind of synergy in their ideas. Plus Doyoung knew full well that he had an unusual abundance of book smarts.

 

"How did you get all the restricted stuff so fast anyway?" Doyoung asked, swiping his fingers over the smaller box. Taeyong batted his eyelashes and smiled sweetly with his mouth tightly zipped, which drew an exasperated sigh from Doyoung. "Fine, don't tell me. I'll pack the books and you get the clothes?"

 

"Sounds good."

 

\---

 

The first time Doyoung saw Taeyong without his mask on was way in the early days.

 

They had just closed what was one of their most emotionally draining missions ever. They were assigned to a recon mission on human traffickers. It had sickened Doyoung, so much so that he'd accidentally allowed himself to be noticed by the gang they were spying on. Taeil had busted him out of there, and Taeyong decided that they needed to put an end to the whole thing right there before the ringleaders got a chance to escape.

 

They succeeded but it didn't feel like a victory. Few things felt like victories in their line of work, Doyoung found.

 

Their mentors at the Society acknowledged their contingency planning instead of the lecture they'd expected. It hadn't helped. Doyoung still felt like throwing up.

 

Taeyong had dragged Doyoung to the rooftop to sit in silence. It became something of a tradition later on.

 

"You didn't mess up, Red Sound," Taeyong said as they laid on their backs. It was cold. The stars were out. Doyoung had school the next day and incomplete homework but he didn't feel human enough to go home.

 

Doyoung scoffed.

 

"You _didn't_. These things just happen. I think it's nice how you had a reaction, actually. Now I'm thinking about all those things we saw and I don't know why it didn't freak me out more. It should have. It was terrible."

 

"If you'd freaked out too we'd be dead," Doyoung said dully.

 

A corner of Taeyong's lip quirked up. Doyoung wanted to yell at him because it _wasn't the moment_ , but wasn't that Taeyong's point? Taeyong didn't _feel_ the right moments. It bugged him enough that Doyoung didn't have to add to it.

 

"Taeil would have saved us," Taeyong said.

 

"He would."

 

They laid in silence for a while more.

 

"U told me something," Taeyong remarked after a while. U was Taeyong's mentor, short for U-Know (which, in Doyoung's opinion, was the lamest name possible for a mind reader). He was really high up in the Society hierarchy so he knew everything despite being 'ethical' about his powers. 

 

"What is it?"

 

"Your name," he said. Obviously he wasn't talking about 'Red Sound.'

 

"Yeah?" Doyoung said, trying for casual. His voice shook.

 

_"Doyoungie."_

 

Unexpectedly, what Doyoung felt was pure, unadulterated _rage_. In hindsight he'd just latched on to the first strong emotion of the day, after the trauma from the mission numbed him. In hindsight, he knew he hadn't thought that Taeyong would hurt him with the knowledge.

 

He grabbed Taeyong by the front of his costume and shook him hard. "He didn't have the right to tell you that," he snarled.

 

"I know," Taeyong said. Doyoung narrowed his eyes at him but let go. "I know, but Society does what Society wants. U thought there was a spy on our team. He wanted me to look out for everyone. I didn't think there was. 'specially didn't think it'd be you, so I wanted to tell you."

 

"Well-" Doyoung didn't know what to say. He was just tired and confused. Unexpected things just kept springing up from all sides those few days. He would have accused Taeil of it because he was new, but Taeil had covered his ass that day, and Taeyong obviously didn't think it was him. "I don't know who it could be."

 

"s'okay. Didn't think you would. Just thought you should know."

 

Doyoung frowned at him. "Why though?"

 

Taeyong laid back down on his arms, and only glanced at Doyoung from the corner of his eye. He hummed in place of an answer. Doyoung couldn't add anything to that.

 

"Do you want to know my name?" Taeyong offered, minutes - maybe an entire hour? - later.

 

"And if I'm actually a spy?" Doyoung muttered.

 

"I'm serious," Taeyong said. He was. "I'm-"

 

"Don't do anything reckless," Doyoung said hurriedly. He grabbed Taeyong's wrist to stop him. Taeyong's bones were fine and his wrist was tiny. "Why are you being stupid?"

 

"I know you're not going to sell me out. Even if you were a spy you wouldn't, but you're not," Taeyong declared with no small hint of annoyance, like he had the _right_ to after jumping into things like that. How would he _know_? _Doyoung_ knew, but Taeyong obviously couldn't.

 

"You can't know that! Why is your judgement like this?" Doyoung questioned frustratedly, but his voice came out louder than he intended. He sounded aggressive.

 

"Because _I trust you!"_ Taeyong shouted, and he snatched his wrist out of Doyoung's grasp. His teeth were barred in a twisted grimace. Doyoung couldn't see his eyes but he knew they had to be glaring.

 

Taeyong reached up and removed his mask before Doyoung could stop him.

 

Oh. His eyes.

 

"I'm Taeyong, I'm from Seoul. Now you know."

 

\---

 

They cleared up the rooms pretty quick. Taeyong's room took all of twenty minutes, but Doyoung didn't live in a pig sty either. Doyoung levitated all of their things to the Zap Room, where they could teleport their stuff out.

 

When they were up to their world saving shenanigans, Doyoung'd telekinetically smashed a tank through a wall to create an escape route. He'd passed from the effort that took. Moving years' worth of memories and belongings to the Zap Room was insultingly easy in comparison.

 

Taeyong set about programming in their coordinates while Doyoung made sure their things didn't topple over.

 

The largest thing they'd taken with them was Taeyong's obnoxious box of research by far. Every meaningful gift they had ever exchanged was tucked away somewhere hidden from view.

 

"I've set the ZR to yours, then mine, safe house 3, then Hansol's. U can handle Seoul on his own. Hansol said he'd adopt your city if we gave him the cue."

 

"You bastard, you planned all this behind my back," Doyoung said with as much surprise he could muster (which was to say, none).

 

"Hey, you know the importance of good planning by now," Taeyong said distractedly as he fiddled with some knobs and switches.

 

"Doesn't mean you're not a bastard."

 

"I might not be. Erm...I kind of swiped all of the Soc's info on my own life too back there."

 

Doyoung's heart skipped a beat. "What the fuck."

 

Taeyong glanced up at him with a tiny hesitant smile. "I might have been born in Seoul, can you believe it?"

 

Taeyong held himself still, the clearest giveaway that he was trying to hide his nerves. Taeyong was never still when relaxed, but he tended to overcompensate when his physical tells threatened to become too obvious. It might have worked on strangers but not Doyoung.

 

Doyoung's own blood thrummed with nervous energy, bred from a sudden intense curiosity. And if he was like this, God, Taeyong had to be so impatient to find out more.

 

Taeyong looked back down at the control panel he was working with. "You don't have to come with if you don't wanna for that, we'll find Taeil first." He slapped his palm flat against the activate button before Doyoung had a chance to respond properly and they were caught in a swirl of energy. But Doyoung's other superpower wasn't screaming really loudly for nothing. Even going through the Zap system, he managed to catch 'stupid,' 'together,' and 'bastard' pretty clearly in his own voice. He knew Taeyong must have heard it too.


	2. Chapter 2

Of all the safe houses Doyoung had clearance for, safe house 3 was his favourite. It was nice little upscale thing at the outskirts of Seoul's city centre that had somehow sustained zero damage from the world ending rigmarole. It was heartening to see, after dealing with debris and the remains of once-comfortable homes for days on end.

 

The place was lovely in its stylish practicality, with two bedrooms and a study, a nicely ventilated kitchen, and a decked out bathroom with a bathtub and two showerheads. It came with the added bonus of bulletproof windows and soundproof walls and incurious neighbours. U-Know's rich crimefighting partner Max owned the building despite living a whole city across.

 

The modernity and convenience was absolutely why Taeyong had picked the place out for them out of all the safe houses that had survived. If Doyoung was fond of safe house 3, Taeyong was _enamoured_ with it. For someone who hadn't seen a hair of a city until he was seventeen, Taeyong thrived in it like it was his natural habitat. He picked up city fashion and technology quickly and flourished amidst the fast pace and the diversity of urban life. Late night patrol on the rooftops always found him smiling down at the bright lamp-lit streets and the ever-busy roads. Taeyong didn't really have sense of belonging to any location before he settled in Seoul, the city he loved with all his heart.

 

Doyoung was fairly happy to live there for a bit and happier to see Taeyong fit right in like a missing jigsaw piece, but unpacking in _any_ location was an absolute bitch.

 

"Your room is a wreck," Taeyong said, leaning against his door frame. Taeyong had unpacked as quickly as he packed. All his things went into boxes in the same order he liked them taken out, so it was just a matter of shifting things from one place to another. Ordinary people like Doyoung had to group their things together and find spaces for them as they unpacked.

 

"Help out then, and stop whining," Doyoung said, irritated because the shelf he'd chosen for his fictional books was just short a space, and how _dare_ it be short a space? He wasn't going to put _one_ book from the series on the next shelf! People like Taeyong had the packing gods on their side and shelves were _always_ just the right length.

 

"I was going to cook dinner though," Taeyong said, and made no move to help. On second glance, he had his hands in his pockets. What a useless irritating waste of space he was. Doyoung flung the nearest thing to him - a box of tissues - at his face. Taeyong caught it and pouted, which was even more aggravating.

 

"I'll help you with dinner, okay? Don't leave me here."

 

Taeyong studied the books stacked all over the floor with a grimace. He walked over to the shelf Doyoung was fighting with and took the book he held with a sigh. "That's obviously not going to fit. What are you doing?"

 

"I'm not splitting up my fiction books," Doyoung insisted.

 

"Yeah, so you just exchange this series and this series," Taeyong said and did so deftly, "and put this standalone book here....and those can squeeze there, and that series can go below those, and...this...that here...those...oh wait, maybe...yeah...and we're done!"

 

Doyoung stared at his newly organised shelf blandly. It was perfect, obviously. Each shelf even had some semblance of height order, and each series had its place. Books by the same author that weren't in the same series weren't split up either. Doyoung had wrestled with those books for twenty-odd minutes and Taeyong had put them in place in two.

 

"That is the weirdest talent I've ever seen," he told Taeyong honestly.

 

"You're welcome," Taeyong replied with a slight eyeroll.

 

"I saw that," Doyoung said.

 

Taeyong rolled his eyes with greater force. "If you're going to make me pack your room, you're going to have to let me roll my eyes."

 

"I mean that's great. Maybe they'll get stuck so you can't see me well enough to annoy me." Doyoung had to control himself to avoid rolling his own eyes on reflex, but it's totally ruin his line if he did that. Taeyong scoffed, like he could read Doyoung's internal thought process.

 

"You're so ungrateful," Taeyong complained while putting Doyoung's bedsheets away with his clothes. He kept one set aside and set about stuffing pillows into clean, fresh pillowcases.

 

Doyoung, damn his conscience, actually felt a little sting of guilt. "I'll help out later okay? I'll even cut the onions," he volunteered, in hopes it would make him feel better. Taeyong flashed him a sharp grin, all white shiny teeth, that made him regret his words.

 

\---

 

Doyoung's mentor was one Kim Heechul, the world's most eccentric superhero - or so he'd like the them to think. He alternated between the names Flower and Snake - neither of which Doyoung thought were good superhero names. (Doyoung made sure to inform him as often as humanly possible.) Most people kept to just one costume design, but Heechul went about in a collection of colourful ugly suits with strange patterns and sequined masquerade masks that nobody appreciated except him. In spite of his persona, Doyoung knew he was one of the most hardworking and disciplined people in the Soc.

 

Doyoung and Heechul's partnership had a pretty exciting origin story, if he dared say so himself.

 

The Soc had found him in a blizzard. He and his brother had been deathly afraid of the storm, which had cut off the electricity supply and left them cold. Their panic made their untrained powers to spiral out of control. Furniture in their house began to float and fly, before one of them accidentally sent something crashing into the window. The panic that caused didn't make anything better. Their parents were hiding away in the store room, helpless against their children's immense power. Doyoung remembered clearly that his cheek had been bleeding from a fruit peeler that ricocheted off a mirror.

 

Heechul came with a tiny lady called Taeyeon, whose powers had something to do with sensing meta-human energy. They'd put a stop to the destruction quickly with a block to their energy flows. The things that happened next one of them found their electric blankets and wrapped one around him. It was still warm from before the electricity died.

 

Doyoung's mother tried to make them hot chocolate but it was more lukewarm than anything. The cocoa powder refused to dissolve. Heechul had dropped more marshmallows into his mug and Taeyeon had smacked his wrist for it.

 

At some point all the adults left them alone to have some serious adult talk. Doyoung and his brother were left alone, bundled up pathetically in blankets. They exchanged helpless looks.

 

When the adults came back, the two heroes presented an offer to the boys to mentor them. It was for their own safety and everyone else's. They accepted with their parents' blessing. Doyoung followed Heechul and his brother decided to be trained by Taeyeon. Doyoung met the other boys more often, while his brother spent more time researching indoors with his introverted mentor. It wasn't until Taeyong came along that any semblance of a team was formed.

 

Taeyong's origin story was ten times as outrageous, but that's something for another time.

 

\---

 

Taeyong was a fucking  _demon._

 

Doyoung's eyes were watering and his hands were too covered with onion juice for him to do anything about it. Taeyong just went about on his way like the onion fumes weren't all over the kitchen.

 

He really, really shouldn't have volunteered to do this.

 

Taeyong had chucked a huge brown onion at Doyoung once they entered the kitchen and told him to deal with it. He knew for fact that Taeyong didn't use those onions all that often because they melted more quickly than he liked for most things  _and_ that Taeyong knew those made him cry, but try as he might, he couldn't find the purple onions anywhere. The magic of Taeyong's organising system was that when he didn't want you to find something, you didn't.

 

"I think it would be good for us to start work tomorrow," Taeyong had said casually as Doyoung rummaged a drawer for the purple onions. Bloody bastard wore black skinny jeans and a white t-shirt with a stupid print on it in the house in the _winter_ and he  _had_ to bother tucking it in when they were indoors,  _and_ he was wearing one of those dumb cloth belts that were too long so the ends hung off the sides and his weird feet were cute, so Doyoung couldn't help thinking things when he looked at him. Doyoung glared at him. He must have sensed it. "I'm telling you that's the only onion U had," he said, resolutely focused on cutting the wings off a chicken. "I thought about going grocery shopping but U never uses his stuff so I brought everything except the instant stuff over, or else they'll rot."

 

"You're a fucking liar," Doyoung had said viciously and resumed his onion search, but it yielded no results. Hence, his current tears.

 

Taeyong had moved on from cutting the chicken into pieces to trimming fat from the chicken, efficient as always. He'd even found the time to wash his hands with soap twelve or so times since the beginning.

 

"So, start work? Tomorrow?" Taeyong suggested again.

 

"Can we tonight? I kind of want to take the afternoon off tomorrow to get my hair dyed," Doyoung said with a furious blush. It felt like such a frivolous thing to ask for, but he'd been in the superhero business for so  _long_ and it had been a dream.

 

Taeyong blinked in surprise. "Oh. Sure. You've been talking about that since the day we met."

 

"I- you remember?"

 

"Mmm I remember everything you said that day." They glanced at each other at the exact same time so their eyes caught each other. Doyoung couldn't look away. Taeyong's gaze was warm. He was so, so dreadfully pretty. Sometimes when they were in costume, Doyoung wanted to snatch his mask off so that everyone knew that the person saving them was just the world's most beautiful ordinary human being with an inhumane burden on his back. The Track mask did everyone a disservice. The Track identity did him a disservice. Revered as they were, Doyoung couldn't be entirely positive about anything that hid the real him away.

 

He was so _pretty_.

 

Doyoung wanted to put his arms around his waist and kiss him. They'd stand flush against each other. He'd have to look down and Taeyong would look up. They'd close their eyes.

 

He couldn't.

 

"Don't be a sap," he grumbled instead. He brought his chopped up onion to Taeyong and left under the guise of washing his stinging eyes.

 

\---

 

Johnny, Hansol, and Doyoung were huddled around a computer monitor at Soc HQ spying on the adults kicking ass (and  _maybe_ making some escape plans to help out) when U-Know walked in with a new person in tow.

 

The three of them had stared in shock because _U-Know_ was almost a mythical figure to them. He chaired all the big Soc meetings with Max and Ms. Kwon. The rare occasions where their mentors took them along were the only times they ever saw him. Once their brains realised exactly who was in front of them, they tripped over themselves to greet him.

 

U-Know chuckled. "At ease, boys. I was supposed to show him around HQ but those guys out there need my help so I was hoping you could help me do it. You're all around the same age anyway so it'd be good to know each other."

 

"What are his powers?" Hansol had asked.

 

"He's an empath but his abilities are very limited, so just consider him a well-trained human." U-Know gave the new boy a slight push forward. "Why don't you tell them these things yourself? I have to go now."

 

"See you," new boy said. With U-Know out of the room, the boys openly sized each other up.

 

Taeyong had been a small thing, all legs and lean muscle and fine bones. He'd grown a bit since then - not that much taller or heavier, and still lean, but more sturdy, more balanced, less coltish. He had been about the same height as Johnny was three years prior, but he hadn't seemed to be three years younger than Johnny. He had the same aura of earnestness that all the heroes who felt they were given a second chance at life had. There was definitely a story there, Doyoung was sure of it.

 

"Which year were you born in?" Doyoung had asked, because this boy felt old and young all at the same time. He regarded things with a sense of newness that simply could not be hidden. His posture was alert, absorbing his surroundings like a child would, yet he seemed wary.

 

"1995," Taeyong said.

 

Johnny burst out in loud obnoxious laughter. "Red Sound's always looking for someone younger than him to bully but I guess it can't be you." Doyoung elbowed him in the ribs.

 

"It's 'cos you're short," Doyoung said to Taeyong defensively. But that wasn't why he'd asked. He just wanted to know. The new boy was a puzzle.

 

"You are being rude, we just met! And low centre of gravity is a weapon," Taeyong retorted. Doyoung had studied him critically. The boy's eyes were hidden, but Doyoung was willing to bet his own face was being analysed as well. The corner of his mouth was tilted up, but in a grimace. His expressions were untrained but difficult to read.

 

Doyoung hoped they weren't getting off on the wrong footing. This really wasn't how his first meetings with people usually went.

 

"You are kind of short though," Hansol said, but teasing, friendly. He looked as though he wanted to ruffle the new boy's hair. If Doyoung hadn't known Hansol to be wiser than to flirt with a kid he barely knew, he would have physically separated them into different rooms.

 

"What do we call you?" Johnny asked.

 

"Track," Taeyong had said simply.

 

"Well, we already told you RS's name, I go by Gold, and this guy," Hansol jabbed his thumb at Johnny, "deadass goes by 'Fly Boy.'"

 

Taeyong had given Johnny a judgemental snicker unnervingly identical to the one Doyoung remembered giving him when he'd first learned his name. Doyoung mind had decided that they had an affinity from that moment. He grew to be less trusting as he aged with maturity, thankfully.

 

"I like your hair," Taeyong had said to Hansol right after that, which made them look at each other, which made Doyoung want to separate them again. He knew now that he'd misread the signs there. When he learned more about Taeyong, he realised that his fascination with Hansol's golden hair had simply been that. That was Taeyong's first time talking to someone whose hair was fair, at the ripe old age of seventeen.

 

"Well the rest of us can't do that," Doyoung had informed him a little prudishly, "his civilian identity is assumed dead so he can do whatever he wants with his persona. The rest of us can't let people guess our identities." There had been a thread of bitterness in his voice. He never realised that Taeyong had noticed it, not with all the other information they'd bombarded him with after that. He'd left looking somewhat dazed when U-Know came to retrieve him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello i wrote this faster than normal. send me love thanks xxx


	3. Chapter 3

They were on the roof of the team's HQ again after another recon mission, this time at the harbour. Doyoung always tried his best not to be complacent about their missions, but now that it was over he could say that it had gone flawlessly. It was a relief to hand the burden of dealing with the mob from Max's city to the Society.

 

They were lying down on the ground again. When they did that they could look at the stars. On days that they leaned against the railings instead they could watch the whole city, forever twinkling in little lights, warm and steady no matter the time.

 

Taeyong held his hand. Doyoung threaded their fingers together. There was no sound except the soft puffs of their breathing. It was a nice peaceful pocket of serenity in their hectic lives.

 

"I really love this place," Taeyong said.

 

Doyoung hummed in agreement. "Soc HQ never feels the same as our own place."

 

"It's cosier here."

 

Doyoung had nothing to say to that, so he nudged Taeyong's shoe with his own, refusing to let Taeyong get comfortable for too long. Taeyong kicked him back and they flipped each other over several times until they were tired again.

 

They were silent for a few moments to catch their breaths back. Then there was a little pull on his hand as Taeyong flipped to lie on his side to face Doyoung. "I grew up at a monastery, you know?" he said. All the important things he ever said started out with abrupt statements, Doyoung had come to realise.

 

"Yeah?" Doyoung said, attentive.

 

Taeyong hummed, sinking into a slightly detached storytelling tone. "It wasn't really my kind of thing. Can't meditate at all, see? And could somehow never get religious."

 

"How did you get there?" Doyoung asked. A monastery was...not something he'd ever thought about when he wondered about Taeyong. Aside from swearing not being a part of his natural vocabulary, Taeyong always had a sharp edge of mischief. In many of Doyoung's theories about Taeyong's past, he'd pegged delinquency as a factor.

 

"Kidnapped. I've been putting down U's surname on forms because I don't know what mine is. They've been calling me Taeyong for as long as I can remember but I'm not sure who named me."

 

Doyoung squeezed his hand empathetically. Taeyong graced him with a small smile. "It's not the best feeling, yeah? I think I'll always wonder about it, but Taeyong is me and I am Taeyong, and I think I know pretty well who that is." Doyoung thought about the stark lines Taeyong drew between his identities and wondered about the truth in that statement. Did it have something to do with his history? It was too complicated to puzzle through just yet.

 

"So why did you leave?"

 

"For a lot of reasons. The meditation was one thing," he laughed, "it was really boring."

 

"You _are_ the most hyperactive person I've ever met," Doyoung told him.

 

"I was the  _worst_ fit for that place," Taeyong agreed. "But also. Well. I got lonely. All they ever did was talk about their duties to their Gods and pray and put me through training. They were all these old men. I knew women existed from books and things, but I don't think I ever got to know one properly until I escaped. The only kid I ever saw was the mail boy, and he didn't start showing up until I was- what, twelve? Some of the monks went out to get food and stuff but I never got to go."

 

Doyoung tried to imagine bright, uncontainable Taeyong stuck in the same place for years on end. It was incredibly sad.

 

"I wasn't going to leave until they finished training me though. I always thought that since I suffered for so long, I might as well get all the benefits from it."

 

"And then what?"

 

Taeyong shrugged. "I don't know. They taught me things so I can read and do maths and stuff but I didn't even know national exams existed then, and nobody taught me history. I didn't know how the world worked so all my plans would have fallen through anyway. Didn't understand a single bit of slang either. But I didn't finish training."

 

"Why?"

 

"Don't laugh at me, but- oh who am I kidding, you're going to laugh. They wanted to shave my head okay? I really,  _really_ didn't want to let them and- would you shut up!"

 

No amount of Taeyong kicking his shin could stop the guffaw or wipe the smirk off his face.

 

"Seventeen years of containment and your vanity made you run away?" he asked snidely, after he finally managed to pin Taeyong and his rogue legs to the ground. Taeyong wasn't trying very hard to get away, Doyoung knew. He might have the most negligible powers on the team but he had the most lethal physical skill of them all. He'd once disclosed that he'd been trained from infancy. It showed.

 

"You're just being obtuse on purpose!" Taeyong protested. "It was just the last straw, okay? For _years_ I made myself think that they were only my trainers, and that I was a different person, because that was all that stopped me from going crazy, but then they actually tried to make me one of them. I just-" his voice grew small, "I couldn't." 

 

"I know," Doyoung said softly. He ran his fingers through Taeyong's thick hair once.

 

He couldn't hope to understand how Taeyong had felt, but he could guess. For him, looking like the monks would mean his stay was permanent, and it would wipe out all traces his individuality. Doyoung's heart ached. He couldn't express the amount of gratitude he had that Taeyong's character had been strong enough to survive all those years of suppression when it seemed nobody around him appreciated it.

 

Taeyong peered up at him. He wondered if he was projecting any emotion, because Taeyong could sense it a little if it was strong enough. "You can get off me now," he said.

 

Doyoung pulled his cheek mockingly for good measure and went back to his spot next to Taeyong.

 

"So anyway. I stole a map and a couple of other things and ran to the nearest town I could find - which wasn't that hard. It only took a couple of hours. But they'd find me there if I stayed. I'd also read about the big cities before and I wanted to see them, so I asked some people about it, and snuck on the right train. Erm...I didn't actually have cash at all, but I had stealth?"

 

"I can imagine," Doyoung said with some disguised pride

 

"Hah yeah. It was a long train ride. I got myself fed too! Then I reached Seoul and erm...you know I didn't know anything, right? So I watched people for a whole day. Then I hid around a phone shop to figure out how those things worked 'cos everyone had one, then and copped myself one. And a pre-paid card. But you know you need cash to live? And qualifications to get a job to get cash?" He scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "Didn't exactly have that. But I had stealth?"

 

Doyoung flicked his arm with a finger. "Stop phrasing that like a question, show-off."

 

Taeyong flicked him back but harder. Doyoung scowled at him. "Let me continue, beast. I kind of slept at the SNU library with all the kids pulling all-nighters for a couple of weeks. Got nice clothes and everything at some point so they didn't think I was homeless. I used the school's showers too. And I read some history books. Everyone has a computer there, but if you write things down on papers nobody seems to suspect you. But one of the days I tried to rob U's car when he was giving a guest lecture."

 

Doyoung gaped at him. "Well shit. _That's_ how you met?"

 

"Yeah. He has _real_ good tech right? You know that. I didn't sound his alarm 'cos...well I _am_ kind of good, and he doesn't waste his best tech on civilian-use cars, but he still got me on a camera even I didn't see. So I got his cash card but he tracked me down in the school."

 

"Oh shit."

 

Taeyong laughed. "What are the chances, right? And I was already deciding if I should go hang out at Yonsei instead the day before, so we were only in the same place by luck. I had no idea whose car I was breaking into, or that they'd find me. But I got him curious, so he wanted to know who trained me. Thought it might have been one of the villains or something. I tried to give him his cash card back but he refused to get lost, so I told him a bunch of stuff and showed him the stuff I stole from the monastery to prove that I wasn't trying to get him. You know, when I was taking the map? I grabbed everything with my name on it too. Figured out my age because I was brought in on the second of July, 95, but I don't actually know when I was born."

 

"Then he asked you to live with him?" Doyoung asked slowly, trying to fit the pieces together. But it didn't quite make sense. U-Know didn't exactly make a habit of taking in morally-grey teenagers who could help themselves; he met too many of them to do that so simply in his line of work.

 

"Ermmm..." he was  _hedging._ After all the confessing he'd done that night.

 

It meant that there was something big he'd been hiding throughout all this. Doyoung felt somewhat stricken. "Hey, what is it?"

 

"The monastery was a sham."

 

"Sorry?"

 

Taeyong sat up and hugged his knees to his chest. Only then did Doyoung notice that they'd been holding hands the whole time. He looked straight ahead. Doyoung couldn't catch his gaze again. There was a crooked smile on his face.

 

"It was fake. It wasn't real. U recognised some names, some stamps. The mailboy I talked to sometimes worked for them, but he never told me, obviously. U said the coded instructions on the papers came from a secret society. You know Zircon? From Incheon?"

 

"They've been inactive for a year. Wait, it was you-?"

 

"Yeah, yeah. _Wait_. I'll get there. So the monks I lived with were brainwashed into believing a fake religion. Not all of them, the leaders were in on the plan. They always told me vaguely that they were training me for the 'good of humanity,' but Zircon was having me trained to be an assassin."

 

Doyoung winced. "Zircon was going to take you away again."

 

Taeyong laughed hollowly. "That was the better option. The monks thought they were going to  _sacrifice_ me. They were raising 'the best of humanity' to kill me and make me its guardian."

 

Taeyong continued speaking but the words flowed past Doyoung's ears.

 

He tried to imagine Taeyong dead. It could have happened. It was _supposed_ to have happened. He had been _that_ close to not having met Taeyong and being none the wiser about it, Taeyong who had come into his life scarcely a year ago and wedged himself in like he never belonged anywhere else, who was bright and vivacious and artistic and talented, who had wonky feelings but shared them with Doyoung and made him feel like the most important person in the world. His best friend.

 

"You could have died," he said blankly.

 

Taeyong stopped short. "No, not really," he said, "I think Zircon would have come for me before that."

 

"Shut up, just shut up," he muttered. His eyes stung with unexpected tears. He brought Taeyong into a tight hug and buried his face in his shoulder. "I'm glad you ran away. I love you. I hope you're vain forever."

 

Taeyong stiffened, then he put his arms around Doyoung and allowed Doyoung to squeeze him as hard as he could.

 

"I'm okay now," Taeyong said reassuringly a while later. Doyoung pressed the base of his palm to his eyes to force his tears to stop.

 

"You're okay now," he repeated. 

 

"Yes," Taeyong said.

 

Doyoung exhaled and let Taeyong go. His heart was moving at a pace so quick and felt so feeble that he was afraid he would faint. He gazed at Taeyong with wide eyes, memorised the straight line of his nose, the darkness of his eyes, the contours of his cheekbones, all of which were already so familiar to him but he never appreciated enough. His warm presence on a humid summer night was all Doyoung would ever need.

 

"Can I kill them for you?" he asked meekly. Once he said it, he found that he meant it more than he was ready to deal with. He'd never felt bloodlust before. It was a little scary, and a little bit too pleasing.

 

"You don't have to. U and I have dealt with them. After that he made me watch TV with him for hours a day so he could teach me about people."

 

"So everyone is alive?" he asked, because U-Know didn't kill. Neither did Taeyong, even though he didn't replicate U-Know's righteous moral code. Now that Doyoung knew that he had narrowly avoided a career as an assassin it made sense.

 

Doyoung didn't kill either, because Heechul was steadfast in maintaining that superheroes has no more right than villains to play judge and jury. Doyoung saw the logic in this, but his heart rebelled this very moment.

 

Taeyong hummed. "Yeah but defunct, and defunct forever. I think some of it is classified so I'm not allowed to say, but Zircon's leader killed himself. And some of the people from the monastery are in therapy. One sent U a letter through the hospital system to pass to me. He says he's sorry, and I think he really thought he was doing the right thing back then, but I'll probably never forgive him."

 

"You don't have to, _ever_ ," Doyoung said vehemently. Taeyong made a pleased little sound, his mood a little off what the situation called for as usual, but Doyoung was fond of him for it. Doyoung wondered if anyone ever told him that he didn't have to love people who didn't love him. Growing up as he did and then living with U-Know, he didn't think so. U-Know had, according to Heechul, allowed people who tried to murder his civilian identity to get off scot free before. Even Heechul was of the opinion that they ought to have been jailed.

 

"This is why you're my favourite," Taeyong said happily. "The monks always told me to forgive my enemies and pray for them, but I didn't even have enemies there. Now that I have them I don't think I'll ever pray for them."

 

"You don't have to open your heart that wide," Doyoung agreed with passion.

 

Taeyong beamed. "I don't think my heart can go that wide anyway."

 

Well, neither could Doyoung's, even if he hadn't been aware of it until that night, but he had space enough for Taeyong and he was pretty sure it was mutual so that was alright.

 

"Do you want to go out for supper?" Taeyong asked suddenly, eyes _alive_ and brilliant even in the dim lighting on the rooftop.

 

Doyoung had school the next day and a graded quiz to take. He had a backlog of homework because the team had been assigned on too many missions, and his chances of being elected to the student council next year were dropping by the second.

 

He took a glance past Taeyong at the skyline of a city that never slept.

 

"Sure," he said.

 

\---

 

Taeyong pelted pebble at him. Then another. And another.

 

"Stop doing that," Doyoung growled. Then it registered precisely what Taeyong was doing and he chucked his pencil at him. "Stop throwing those! My brother gave them to me!"

 

Taeyong rolled the remaining pebbles in his hand. " _You_ stop," he said. "You can't even aim an aerodynamic object properly anymore, and I saw you erase that equation three times. Plus Taeyeon magically enforced these so they'll be fine." He tossed another pebble Doyoung's way which nicked him at the corner of his jaw.

 

"But it's been  _days_ since we started, and we have to figure this out quick."

 

"No, it's been _days_ since we touched fresh air and we had dinner at 6, which means we haven't eaten in nine hours, which means we need to go for supper."

 

"Which will help, how?" Doyoung asked witheringly.

 

"It will give our saturated minds some inspiration," Taeyong said, already getting up. "Come on, even a city in ruins runs twenty-four hours a day."

 

Doyoung sighed and put a weight over his papers. "It's not so ruined anymore. Seoul will probably be the first place in the world to be back to normal."

 

"U's efficient like that," Taeyong said, waiting at the doorway. "Come on, let's go show off your new hair."

 

Well, Doyoung had secretly been wanting to do that. He didn't pick that striking coral pink for nothing.

 

He levitated the pebbles scattered around the room back to the window sill, the followed Taeyong out. Maybe tomorrow they'd have a breakthrough.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A pre-emptive happy lunar new year! I'm probably going to be busy for a bit because of that.
> 
> Thanks for reading, commenting, and your kudos everyone <3 Tell me what you think!


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tw: past character death

This is how the world nearly ended, from Doyoung's point of view:

 

It started because Earth was being plagued by alien terrorists. That seemed like the most dire thing anyone could even think of at the time; thousands upon _thousands_ of people were dying because bombs were dropped cities around the planet. Doyoung'd woken up at team HQ to the sound of cities blowing up on their surveillance monitor. It was the scariest thing he'd ever seen.

 

Humanity was in state of panic. The Society saw no choice but the collectively take to space and either negotiate with or take on the aliens, which left the team to deal with the situation on Earth.

 

What was left on Earth was not pretty. Confronted with the threat of hostile enemies, many were acting out of fear and desperation. Communication channels were affected, transportation and agriculture grinded to a halt in some places, people were displaced. The rational human being became prone to self-interest and fear-mongering. The social creature was on the verge of turning self-destructive.

 

That was what the team had been left to deal with, shaken as they were. The team had never even been tasked to take care of the affairs of the world on their own at more peaceful times, and it was apparent that they wouldn't able to handle a world plunged into chaos without making decisions about where to start.

 

The members sat down for a meeting at HQ to figure out their next steps. They'd limited their time to one hour, before things outside could spiral out of control without their knowledge. Doyoung sat at Taeyong's right, and Johnny his left, as always.

 

They were talking, and Doyoung was taking notes. He didn't particularly remember who said what because there was a lot of back and forth, but he was frustrated by how tedious it was. It didn't matter if Ten or Gold were assigned to handle the media, because that didn't change the fact that they had insufficient people to put everywhere. It got increasingly clear that they were overwhelmed and short-staffed for every plan of action they were outlining, for the circumstances were far, far more demanding than anything they'd ever dealt with, and they were more alone than they'd ever been. All the same, Doyoung wasn't supportive of a plan that involved trying their best and hoping the world didn't go to port around them. Luck was never on their side. He liked having results more assured than that, which was why he kept shooting ideas down. It wasn't good for the efficiency of their meeting, but he hoped it would keep them thinking until someone came up with a more viable idea.

 

It kept coming to cutting down the numbers on the search and rescue teams, but that was the job they could _least_ afford to neglect as civilian lives were directly at stake. Doyoung wholly disapproved of doing so, and it seemed the team felt the same, for they had yet to dismiss his objections. 

 

With eighteen more minutes on the clock, Taeyong put forth his view that the only way to resolve their issues was the bring the kids that had been training to be heroes into active duty. Doyoung's heart did a satisfied jump.  _That_ was the kind of idea he'd been waiting for. He wrote the point on to the meeting minutes with a flourish, then raised a hand. "In favour," he said.

 

The rest of the meeting room was silent.

 

Doyoung knew that the idea made more sense from a logistical point of view than all the ideas they'd collectively suggested and trashed during the meeting. He guessed that everyone realised it too. But most people were less calculated in making decisions than he was.

 

"We have to think about this carefully," Johnny said finally. "The kids have no experience in fieldwork. This isn't the most ideal way to expose them to their duties. If we throw them in before they're ready, they might harm themselves, or others."

 

Taeyong nodded solemnly. "Your point is taken. Caution is definitely necessary. But this isn't the most ideal situation in general. The kids are trained, and the ones who are more prepared can help us."

 

"I get that, really. But if the Society hasn't decided them ready enough for missions, there must be a reason. I'm not saying that we _shouldn't_ let the kids do this, kay? I just want us to think this through carefully," Johnny said.

 

Taeyong took his words in slowly, as he tried to phrase a rational answer. "I think...I understand that we are hesitant about throwing these kids into the fire when they've only heard of a flame. I worry for them too. I know we will have to compromise our ethics to make such a decision, and I know it comes with risks. But refusing to include them will compromise the lives of many others, and as a team we have the responsibility to avoid making that sacrifice."

 

It brought along a wave of exchanged glances across the table as the members made their own judgements.

 

Yuta had been the first to point out that the kids were pretty close to their ages when most of them joined the team five to six years ago, so they shouldn't underestimate them. Jaehyun hadn't needed convincing. Taeil remained worried about the kids and wanted to be one of the members to supervise them, if they decided to put the plan in action. Mark had given his opinion that a good number of the kids were well trained and mature enough to handle some missions, and Donghyuck, who had helped his mentor train them several times, agreed with his assessment. Doyoung thought their perspective came because of their age. Many of the trainees were born around the same time as the two, so they didn't see them as young. It was harder for Johnny and Taeil, at twenty-three and twenty-four, to have the same kind of objectivity.

 

Doyoung had honestly been slightly impatient with them all, but said nothing as they were still working within their one hour time limit. He believed they'd come to the right decision, all of them, and it was better to let them rationalise it than to push them before they were willing to accept that it had to be done.

 

Ultimately, the decision was made when Hansol reached around Doyoung to ruffle Taeyong's hair. "The Soc will have our heads short stack, but you're right."

 

With three of four of their founding members in agreement and no outright protest, they had the swing.

 

Johnny sighed. "Alright then, we have twelve minutes left. Where do we begin?"

 

\---

 

The team found some kind of rhythm in the following days. It was one that sucked their energy away, but it became some sort of routine. Two and a half weeks into it, the Soc still hadn't been able to establish contact, so they had to manage on their own.

 

Well, manage they did. The team had quickly gotten the trust of the people, who initially worried that they were going to be inadequate substitutes for their superiors. Even the kids in the newly formed Dream Team (one of Johnny's better naming attempts) impressed on their assignments.

 

However, Doyoung had grown tired of it quickly. They had no other option than to help as far as they could, obviously, and they  _did_ do good work, but Doyoung wasn't prepared to spend the rest of his days dealing with such intense responsibility. It got very trying to be working and working with no end in sight. For those twenty days, he had to give up his civilian identity fully. There wasn't any time to sit around and be yourself. They'd all been in uniform whenever they weren't cleaning up, and sleep was traded for short naps.

 

He wasn't there yet, but there was only so much death and destruction a person could take before reaching a breaking point. He hoped it didn't happen to any of them. He’d never thought of himself as one of the more sensitive members of the team, all the bad news he’d had to deliver was taking its toll, and the occasional relieved or grateful face wasn’t enough to take it away.

 

Then there was a big, stupid, overly-dependent part of him that missed being able to mess around with Taeyong. Taeyong in costume was a very serious person; not quite to the extent of uptight, but his sense of humour restricted to the verbal form. They hadn't thrown a single object at each other since the Society left the planet. Doyoung wanted the world to be alright again, so they’d have time to sit on rooftops to argue over dinner or complain about their mentors.

 

Their relationship had been somewhat more distant in the past few months because of an awkward incident, but it was easy to make himself forget that, because over those months, Taeyong was still the person he confided in most, and the only person he had a never-ending text message thread with. The combination of hiding in costume 24/7 and being in proximity all the time made his yearning for another moment of emotional intimacy ache almost physically. More than ever, his fingers itched to rip the mask off Taeyong's face.

 

He had known that it wasn't the right situation to be having such thoughts, but he didn't exactly have control over them. He was particularly careful not to allow it to disrupt his performance.

 

\---

 

In a way Doyoung got what he wanted, which brought to mind the "be careful what you wish for" adage.

 

He'd been called in to help some kids from the Dream Team after they'd accidentally been trapped in the remains of a military base, busted them out with a tank, passed out, nearly _died_ from a nose bleed, and had to be Zapped back to HQ for immediate medical attention. He regained consciousness after having the hours of rest he'd craved to the sight of Taeyong sitting at his bedside.

 

Of course everything was wrong.

 

"I am so relieved that you are alive," Taeyong said, with so much depth to his sincerity that Doyoung was inspired to tell him that he was in love with him. Thankfully, even his sleep-addled mind had more restraint than that.

 

"I'm glad too," Doyoung said. He took a moment to appreciate the state of inner-peace he was feeling for the first time in a while. Then he had to kill off the illusion, for he knew that Taeyong would never spare the time to sit at the infirmary waiting for a friend to recover while responsibilities were stacked all around him. None of the team would. They'd all  _want_ to, but it would be terribly selfish and unprofessional. "What are you here for?" he asked.

 

Taeyong looked terrible, even with his face half hidden by a mask. Doyoung was a little scared. _What_ exactly happened while he was out for the count?

 

"Everything's a mess, Red Sound," he said. "I just like your judgement the most."

 

Then he started to recount.

 

Apparently Doyoung had been out for seventeen hours. In that time, Jaehyun had come back to HQ to report a strange pattern: a good chunk of their enemies had been shifting inland. He'd called for back-up to investigate, and together with Johnny, successfully busted the hideout of one of them while they were in the process of moving. What they'd found was very chilling: evidence that the villains had formed an alliance, and that they had struck a deal with the alien terrorists, trading alien tech for a promise of natural resources.

 

The team had been unable to find out what the villains had planned, but the most logical place to search, when if people were evacuating the coasts, was the sea.

 

Something like eleven hours ago, they'd found something at Challenger Deep in the Mariana Trench, located conveniently around the world's most earthquake-prone ring. The more science-oriented members put their brains together, and figured out that it was alien tech, programmed to trigger violent movements in the tectonic plates on the Earth's surface – and found out it was loaded enough to wipe out a good fraction of humanity.

 

Jaehyun had tracked down their enemies again and beaten one of them to a pulp (which, really, was why Doyoung liked that kid so much). In return he learnt the time the machine was set to be triggered, and enough info for them to put together the pieces and figure out that villains had been duped.

 

The trigger had been set to go off in less than a day; they were down to a matter of hours now. It was surrounded by a force field which, if breached, would set off the reaction in advance. It was supposed to be a protection against the Soc and the team.

 

The villains wanted to destroy enough to the world to make humanity desolate, then come back and swoop in as heroes, to make everyone dependent on them. In return for the aliens' help, they promised a trade of natural resources. But somewhere along the line they must have been tricked, for the magnitude of the reaction impending was enough to ruin every inch of civilisation and tear up the _continents_ as they knew them. Obviously the aliens figured that if they killed everyone, they'd get a whole planet's worth of stuff instead of just whatever some selfish people wanted to give them.

 

...God, how did anyone manage to mess up a deal  _that_ badly.

 

"The world is ending," Doyoung said just to clarify, because he couldn't believe it.

 

"We have a plan," Taeyong said.

 

Doyoung studied him carefully. "That doesn't sound good."

 

"No, but it's quite simple. I go down with Taeil, who can deal with the water density because our submarines aren't good enough to last long that kind of depth. I take the Soc's best underwater gun, then I shoot the tech core."

 

"And trigger the force field?" Doyoung asked sharply, for no, he hadn't missed that part earlier on.

 

"I have one shot," Taeyong admitted. "The bullet has to hit the first time to be fast enough to shut down the machine before the security trigger kicks in." And there was too little time left for them to invent anything else. Taeyong might have the best aim of anyone in the world, but there was no guarantee that he'd manage to do it.

 

"I hate this plan," Doyoung said. It was the _definition_ of trying your best and hoping the world doesn't go to port around you. If only they had time to sit around tables discussing ideas and innovating again. He'd shoot it down in a heartbeat.

 

But the crazy ideas usually came from Taeyong, even if he never ended up being the person to figure out the logistics of them. If he had nothing better, then quite possibly, nothing better existed.

 

Or, possibly, something _did_. Doyoung was just too drowsy up to have caught on earlier. "You're not here to ask me about that plan, are you? You already know what I think about plans like that." He took Taeyong's silence as affirmation. "Is it bad?"

 

The corner of Taeyong's mouth quirked upwards. "Isn't it always?"

 

Doyoung matched his smile. "The time you suggested camping in Max's camper instead of tents was pretty good."

 

"I'm an advocate for the great indoors," Taeyong said with a laugh, then composed himself again. "I think we'll have to bring Winwin. I'll do it unless you have any violent objections."

 

Of course he fucking did.

 

"I can't object," he said, and hated himself for it. "Get this IV drip off me, I'm monitoring from Surveillance."

 

\---

 

Doyoung wasn't comfortable with sending Sicheng on a single mission. All the Society members, bar none, felt the same. _Sicheng_ felt the same, which was why he'd demanded that the Society take him in in the first place.

 

Sicheng's powers played with fate. Doyoung didn't really know how it worked, but sometimes he could tell when things were going to happen or going to _not_ happen. Then he could change the way things played out.

 

Sicheng was a good person. He'd once saved a girl from a traffic accident because something called fate told him she was going to die. Doyoung didn't know if fate was a voice or a feeling, or something else entirely, and Sicheng had no idea how to begin explaining it.

 

Fate told him that if he sacrificed something, the girl could live. So he said something to the cat with the misfortune of crossing his path that very moment. The cat burst into golden sparkles, and the girl lived. It haunted him so much that he spent all his remaining allowance feeding stray cats after that, and tracked down Sehun from the Soc, who happened to be in China in as civilian persona at the time. Sicheng insisted that the Soc take him in and stop him from ever harming anything without thinking again. The moment the learnt what he could do, they did.

 

Sicheng made people uncomfortable because he made literal all the ethical questions about utilitarianism. Questions like 'is one life ever worth more than another?' or 'is it right to sacrifice one life to save many?' weren't questions people wanted to face in real life, however much the Society followed those principles. It was one thing to act selflessly for the good of others; that was easy. It was far more difficult to preach the sanctity of life on one hand, then find yourself confronted with a situation where the only solution is to value one life over the other. Doyoung knew that Heechul would have tremendous problems with the outcome no matter what decision he made. He wasn't sure he could say the same for himself, but he didn't think he was as good a person.

 

Given that Taeyong was the person in line to be the next sacrifice, it would have been nice to have Heechul's moral compass. That way, he would be able to stop the mission from happening in good conscience.

 

The walk from the infirmary were some of the most tense moments of Doyoung's life. He had so many things to say to Taeyong, but what was important enough to actually be said? He took sideway glances again and again, trying to memorise him, then trying not to because he didn't want to act like Taeyong was going to die. Because he might not; dying wasn't in the plans. It was only going to happen if he failed and the force field killed them, or as contingency.

It was the worst plan they ever had to follow through with. It sucked that they could come out with things that worked when there wasn't much on the line, then have to revert to  _this_ one when the stakes were so high.

 

He wondered if one life was a good enough trade for the whole world. Taeyong's life probably was, but only to Doyoung - or maybe not even to Doyoung, though he would be dreadfully tempted. Who was he to everyone else, that his sacrifice might be enough to save them all? How was it supposed to work?

 

By the time they reached the Surveillance Room, Doyoung had thought of at least a thousand different things, and said absolutely nothing.

 

Taeyong nodded to Johnny as he entered. "You can leave if you want, Red Sound will monitor the mission from HQ."

 

Johnny glanced at Doyoung and was too tactful to suggest that he ought to stay in bed. Besides, what was the point when they might all be dead in minutes?

 

"I'll stay," Johnny said. "Taeil and Sicheng have zapped to the docks already. The submarine is ready to go."

 

Taeyong exhaled slowly. "Right. I should go too."

 

Doyoung grabbed his hand desperately before he could go. "Wait. Wait, please." Taeyong did.

 

Doyoung looked at him intently, despairing at how he could convey everything he wanted to say; all his well-wishes, his love, his respect, his wild fantasies of the long lives they could live together.

 

He couldn't even see Taeyong's eyes. He didn't know if Taeyong understood all that he wanted him to present to him, but the chance that he didn't made Doyoung want to scratch out his heart to show him, so that he could know. He felt helpless. That stupid mask stood in the way of everything.

 

So he pulled him in and kissed him. He kissed him with everything he had, until he was breathless and his head felt light and they had to stop. Then they breathed into each other's mouths, all warm and humid and intimate. Doyoung let their foreheads meet for a few seconds before he let go. He knew Taeyong got everything he couldn't say.

 

Taeyong had to go, and Doyoung couldn't even tell him to come back safely. "Do your best," he said instead.

 

Taeying gripped his arm tightly, in what Doyoung could tell was a  _need_ for final contact. He knew, for he felt it too.

 

"If something goes wrong," Taeyong said softly, "but there is still something left to save, I trust you the most to do it. Doyoung. Doyoungie."

 

Something caught in Doyoung's throat. He swallowed but it didn't help. "Just...do your best, okay?"

 

Taeyong nodded once, resolutely. He gave Doyoung's hand a final squeeze and left.

 

Johnny looked between them with some hint of curiosity. "You guys ever going to talk about that?"

 

If they _lived_ , maybe.Doyoung refused to answer out. "You know," he said instead, "if you ever have to be the leader, I won't be your second. It wouldn't work for us."

 

Johnny raised his eyebrows. "Way to avoid the question! But yes, I knew, I think. We would fight."

 

That was one reason - Johnny was too cautious, and Doyoung was too impatient to solve things. But Doyoung didn't think he would ever be anyone else's second. He lacked the chemistry for it with every other person. Johnny was just the one he'd have conflict with the most if they had to make decisions together.

 

"Who wouldn't you fight with anyway?" Johnny asked.

 

Doyoung considered it momentarily. "Jaehyun."

 

Johnny's features scrunched up in an instinctive recoil. Impatience and recklessness were sure recipe for disaster, and Doyoung knew it too.

 

It'd be best if Taeyong came back.

 

\---

 

The rest of it happened like a nightmare.

 

Eleven kilometres underwater, Doyoung heard Sicheng's tinny voice through the speakers. He froze. "We won't make it. There isn't a chance."

 

It was like his stomach was falling through a chasm.  _No._

 

"Will anything work?" Taeyong's voice came through.

 

Sicheng's little figure on the monitor turned his head, which gave Doyoung a view of the tech through the submarine's see-through walls. There was a massive sphere in the distance, perhaps a few hundred meters in diameter, with the deadly machine floating at the centre. He zoomed in on the image to take a closer look.

 

At the tip of it, he saw the target. It was minuscule, but Taeyong could snipe targets that size from further distances. Underwater was a different thing, but it shouldn't have been something that he had no chance at all of hitting, except it hinged on an arm that thrashed rapidly in random directions at uneven time intervals. Doyoung quickly ran an algorithm to find out if there was a pattern in the way it moved, but from what Sicheng had said, he knew there wouldn't be. But  _if..._

 

They couldn't let the aliens get their way. Not on their watch, _damnit!_ It wasn't like Doyoung to extol the value of humans, for they were capable of terrible deeds. But they were capable of great feats too, and beautiful thoughts and actions, and it was sickening to think that it might end so simply at the whims of some bad people and the greed of a species that knew no empathy for them.

 

It was a world with his parents in it, and his grandparents and his friends and all the people he loved and respected. Everyone was someone's parent, or someone's child. So many deep relationships at the risk of being extinguished in a single crisis.

 

It was on the brink of happening, and still, he couldn't begin to fathom it.

 

The computer reported no pattern. Doyoung ran the movements through it again. Again. Again.

 

The submarine moved progressively nearer to the spherical force field.

 

"Maybe," Sicheng said at last, a belated answer to Taeyong's question.

 

Johnny moved in closed to Doyoung to have a better view of the screen. His hands were shaking. Doyoung felt quite the same.

 

The only sounds that came through the speakers were breathing sounds.

 

Then Taeil spoke. "It has to be me, right?"

 

And oh God  _no,_ Doyoung hadn't even _considered_... His stomach swooped in a wave that must have been guilt and fear, and sorrow.

 

"There's no guarantee," Sicheng said, "it'll only give us a tiny chance. It's not much. It'll be a chance as much as what you mean to the world, but that's not very much because you're only one person. But it's still a positive chance."

 

"Then it _has_ to be me," Taeil said, his voice strong. He smiled bravely at his friends. "You're the only one who can make the shot," he said to Taeyong. "If there's even the smallest chance, as long as there is a chance, I believe in you."

 

"I'll make it happen," Taeyong said, not with confidence, but with resolve. Then he pulled Taeil in for a long, tight hug. When he let go, Taeil's smile was wobbly.

 

"I'm glad both of you aren't the crying sort," he said. "Can...can you please help me give out my Christmas presents? We've been busy, so they're still in my room, so...please."

 

"I'll do it, promise," Sicheng said.

 

"Then-then tell my family I love them? And could we do it quick? Waiting like this feels horrible." Taeil's voice hitched.

 

"Okay," Sicheng said softly. Then he said it, the cursed words that audio signals could never catch and their minds couldn't process, that changed fate. Taeil was gone in a shower of warm embers. Taeyong moved to the front of the submarine. He fitted the gun to the slot, and opened the peephole to let the bullet out. He took aim, a breath, two, waited for the moment the machine's core would just come to a stop before moving again so he could have the longest time. He took the shot.

 

It pierced through the force field. Then it hit target through the side.

 

The mission was over.

 

Doyoung didn't realise he was responsible for the loud cry, or that he'd clenched his fist so hard it was bleeding from his nails until Johnny came to unfurl his fingers. He clutched him and screamed.

 

It was over.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry


	5. Chapter 5

Doyoung awoke to the dull sound of the doorbell through the walls of his room. The morning after they had supper was the first time he and Taeyong had slept in their own bedrooms instead of nodding off at odd hours in the study since they'd moved into the safe house. He squinted at the clock, which said it was fifteen minutes after eight in the morning. They'd slept for four good hours then. Somehow getting proper sleep made his head hurt more.

 

He heard Taeyong shuffle around his room a few moments later, so he decided to shut his eyes for a few more seconds of rest, until his limbs woke up enough to get him out of bed.

 

He eventually dragged himself out of his room to see Taeyong in pyjamas letting Jaehyun into their house. Jaehyun, as always, was impeccably dressed and looking like the rich wasteful asshole he was. (It didn't matter that he was a person whose twenty-year plan included creeping up the socio-political ladder and up-ending every corrupt institution as President; being ambitious did not preclude one from being rich and wasteful.) Doyoung would never think of him as anything other than his favourite little brother, but that piercing he got was...troubling.

 

"I came with breakfast!" Jaehyun said cheerily.

 

Doyoung pinched the bridge of his nose after one look at the box he was carrying. "Cupcakes aren't breakfast," he muttered tersely.

 

"Sure they are!" Taeyong said.

 

"Don't worry, I got you a sandwich," Jaehyun said amicably. Doyoung stared at him blearily. He was not awake enough for his stomach to be awake.

 

" _Thank you_ Jaehyun," Taeyong said pointedly. That made Doyoung remember his manners but if he said anything Taeyong would feel all superior, so Jaehyun had to handle him being rude for a bit. Taeyong rolled his eyes. "Doyoungie means thank you too, and you can sit down while we brush our teeth."

 

Brushing their teeth also meant splashing water at each other while they washed their faces, which meant that Doyoung's shirt was slightly damp and he was cold, but Taeyong refused to let him get a new one when they had a guest. _That_ meant they had an argument, so it was a while later by the time they re-emerged in the living room. Doyoung was happy and toasty in nice warm layers, and Taeyong was happy and freezing to death in a T-shirt like he did every winter.

 

Jaehyun put down his phone to face them without a hint of impatience. "Nice hair. That colour's hard to pull off, but it really suits you," he said to Doyoung. Doyoung almost felt a little bad for being so snippy earlier.

 

"Thanks for breakfast," Doyoung said. Taeyong made a beeline for the cupcake box.

 

"Chocolate!" he cheered.

 

Doyoung could have pointed out that Taeyong had at least five bars of chocolate in the refrigerator at any one time, but he understood that Jaehyun's chocolate was always superior. Jaehyun's casual friendly breakfast cupcakes probably had frosting made with Godiva. Jaehyun had also been the fortunate person to witness Taeyong's first taste of chocolate (which was _months_ after he got to the city; what exactly did U-Know feed him?), so it was something they bonded over.

 

Doyoung wasn't going to question to price of the things in his own sandwich. It would probably make him feel terrible. He'd been to Jaehyun's kitchen once and annoyed the cook by rummaging around his endless fridge. There had been an actual  _leg_ of ham there.

 

"How has retirement been?" Jaehyun asked, watching with amusement as Taeyong quickly polished off a cupcake.

 

"Not bad," Doyoung said between bites, "not getting any more sleep though, unfortunately."

 

"But still kind of great right? I took yesterday and today off and I feel like I de-aged ten years."

 

"You got your eyebrows threaded," Taeyong said accusingly.

 

"And went to the gym!" Jaehyun added. "Gotta keep up my girlish figure, you know? I almost feel human again."

 

Taeyong poked his solid abs and tempted him with a cupcake, showing no respect for Jaehyun's desire to stay fit. Jaehyun stared at the cupcake lustfully for all of three seconds before caving in. Doyoung gave them both the best disapproving look he could muster, but both knew him well enough to be fully impervious to it.

 

"Superstar Haechan wants you both to download his new charity single," Jaehyun said in the midst of his cupcake. Taeyong was slowly nibbling his second one, looking terribly adorable. He probably wouldn't even drop a crumb. It was cute.

 

"Is it any good?" Doyoung directed at Jaehyun distractedly without looking at him.

 

"All charity singles are a bit boring," Taeyong said, but he was already loading the app up. And nibbling. Was it creepy if Doyoung wanted to take the cupcake from him and take a bite himself? All the new cupcakes didn't have the same appeal. He didn't even like sugar in the morning.

 

"Poor Donghyuck has to perform it for weeks," Jaehyun agreed sympathetically. "I didn't even make it past the first chorus."

 

"Tell Superstar Haechan that he still owes me a music pass," Doyoung grumbled.

 

"Text him yourself," Jaehyun said, "I don't think he's going to say it himself, but he probably misses you guys."

 

"Do you think we'll ever have another moment of peace if I finally create a group chat?" Taeyong mused.

 

"I know that secret identities are pretty passé in the 127 team," Doyoung said immediately, "but that is a  _terrible_ idea."

 

"You know we're all implicitly waiting for your permission, great leader," Jaehyun said with the most wicked grin. Taeyong beamed at him.

 

"I'll consider."

 

Doyoung tossed the wrapper of his sandwich at him, and this time it hit target just fine. "You will  _not."_

 

Taeyong threw it back at him, and he  _never_ missed. A ball of paper shouldn't have hurt so much. "You'll end up texting the most out of all of us anyway! You never shut up."

 

"It's true!" Jaehyun said, at Doyoung's expense, after all the nice things Doyoung had thought about him in his life. Ungrateful!

 

"Why are you on break anyway?" Doyoung sulked.

 

"My parents wanted me to make a public appearance tonight, so I kind of had to take a day off to stop looking like I just got out of a war zone."

 

Doyoung raised his eyebrows. "They're quick."

 

"Have to show the world that their empire can't be stopped by some aliens having fun with our planet, yeah?" He shifted a shoulder upwards in a graceful shrug.

 

"Break is good. You look sexy. Your brows are nice," Taeyong said, as he gazed longingly at the cupcake box. There were three left. He'd probably be generous enough to save one for Doyoung, but Doyoung felt responsible for preventing his best friend from eating  _four_ cupcakes for breakfast.

 

Jaehyun took the objective compliment for what it was. "Thanks," he said, "you always look cute."

 

"Thanks," Taeyong said. Doyoung smacked his hand away from the cupcake box before he could start his third one.

 

"No he doesn't, he has the worst case of a resting bitch face I've ever seen," Doyoung protested.

 

"Still cute," Jaehyun said to annoy Doyoung, or maybe he really thought that. (Doyoung agreed, but he wouldn't say so if you paid him. Taeyong was always cute; Track wasn't but Taeyong was.)

 

"Anyway, I'd invite you guys but I'm guessing you're still busy?"

 

Taeyong hummed in agreement. "We'll go the next time."

 

Jaehyun sighed. "Oh well, it was worth a shot. My mum likes having you around. She says you look 'expensive' even though nobody knows who you are. Creates a sense of mystery. I'll credit your nose bridge."

 

"Did you invite anyone else?" Doyoung asked. He didn't really mind missing Jaehyun's parents' parties anyway - everything was so bright and glamorous that he never knew what to do with himself and he was sure every tiny (heavenly) serving of finger food cost as much as he spent in a week. He and Taeyong usually spent hours trailing behind Jaehyun and trying their best not to look out of place until it was late enough to politely escape.

 

"Just Johnny," Jaehyun said. "Can’t distract too many of us from work. Look, I really love him and all, but how do you rate my chances of getting him to get a nice haircut before this evening? Maybe it used to look nice, but the lot of us have been too busy to look pretty."

 

"Not  _you,_ you got your eyebrows threaded," Taeyong said.

 

At the same time, Doyoung spoke: "I don't rate it at all, he's _tasteless._ I think he wants to grow it out.Rememberhe used to go by  _Fly Boy?_ And when he had  _one_ chance at rebranding when he outgrew that kiddy name, he squandered it on calling himself  _The Aviator."_

 

The three of them collectively shuddered.

 

Jaehyun exhaled slowly. "Right, shan't try too hard then. Lives up to his name though - best wingman _ever_."

 

"You're _such_ a fucking horndog," Doyoung groaned.

 

"It's been _weeks,_ man! A guy has needs."

 

Taeyong's expression was a fairly good attempt at an unamused mask before he ruined it by laughing. Jaehyun responded by turning on his best press-ready Rich Gorgeous Charming Brat Jeffrey Jung smile, for which Taeyong kicked him because Doyoung was sitting in a position too awkward to do it himself.

 

"That face is sleazy," Taeyong informed him. Jaehyun didn't even have the dignity to look anything except proud.

 

"You're still invited to join if you want," he said, moving his perfect new eyebrows suggestively. Taeyong kicked him again.

 

"Fuck off, we're busy," Doyoung said with an eyeroll.

 

"Speaking of which, how's that going?" Jaehyun asked, straightening up a little. Doyoung and Taeyong exchanged a long glance, which Jaehyun rightfully took as an indication of trouble. He whined like a little brat baby. Honestly, Doyoung thought he looked too put-together to logically be able to produce sounds like that.

 

"Well, since you're here we might as well hear your opinion," Taeyong said cautiously. Truthfully, Doyoung didn’t _want_ to hear Jaehyun’s opinion this time. He’d been dreading telling him about their plans, Jaehyun’s breakfast visit had caught him by surprise. He and Jaehyun usually agreed, but he could foresee from the start that this would be one of the rare exceptions.

 

"Don't put us all through emotional turmoil again," Jaehyun whimpered, flopping on his back, "it's going to hurt again, I can already tell."

 

"It's not nearly as bad," Taeyong said reassuringly, in that nurturing leader tone of voice he sometimes used. "So I’ll start? We figured that we were more likely to get anything done with magic rather than science after the first couple of days. Rather, we can't get this done with science at all, so magic is the only way, even though it's dangerous."

 

"Uh-huh."

 

"And working on the assumption that he's not actually dead, because that would make it pointless for us to try anything, Taeil has to be somewhere else since he's clearly not here. A cross-dimensional summoning circle is our best bet."

 

"But having problems making a strong enough circle since we're unwilling to ask Taeil's family to take part," Doyoung added. "They have a stronger connection to him than we do, so we're going to have to bank on our experiences together being a significant enough part of his life."

 

"I'm sure his family would be happy to though," Jaehyun said.

 

"They _would_ ," Taeyong agreed, "but we're not asking them. We're not risking people who haven't had exposure to magic before. The effect could be bad. And we're strongly leaning in the direction of doing it with no non-metas as well, which includes you."

 

There was a beat of silence. "You're deciding that without asking me." Jaehyun said it in a level voice, but he was definitely disguising some emotion. Hurt? Anger? Neither? Doyoung couldn't always get an accurate read of him, and it was unnerving. "I want him back too, you know?"

 

Taeyong reached out to touch his arm. "Could you hear us out first? Before you get mad."

 

Jaehyun looked unhappy, but he allowed them to speak.

 

"There's a difference between a cross-dimensional summoning circle and all the other ones we've had to do before," Doyoung said, always better than explaining the technical things that Taeyong was. "For things like teleportation and healing, we were restricted to this plane. When you're reaching across dimensions with magic, it's not safe to be in a circle without an anchor to the world, because if you lose focus once, you might end up somewhere else. Meta powers are still a mystery to a large extent, but what we know is that they're Earth-given. It's the closest you can get to a failsafe anchor, per the books."

 

"But you're letting _Taeyong_ do this? His powers are practically non-functional."

 

"My powers are the least of our problems right now. Any meta-human has a link to this plane, regardless of strength. And my powers are stable, which is the most important point here."

 

"We're worried about Ten and Hansol, to be honest," Doyoung sighed. "That's why we're stuck. They're really strong, but their powers fluctuate a lot. Ten at his best is four to five times stronger than Ten at his worst, which makes the circle really unpredictable. Without enough minds connected, that amount of unbalance has more effect, which could prematurely deactivate the circle. They won't go anywhere, but we'll lose our chance."

 

"And then there's always the question about whether Mark is a strong enough mage to keep the circle going," Jaehyun added thoughtfully.

 

Taeyong grimaced. "Yes, there's always that problem."

 

Jaehyun took a few moments to let the facts settle in. "Explain to me again why you won't let me or Taeil's family take part, because that would solve some problems."

 

"'cos we're not risking you to get him back, Jaehyun," Taeyong said firmly, his eyes imploring, sparkling with grief and love impossible to look away from. There was the crux of it; the reason they had to give up some assurance of getting Taeil back. "Because none of you are less important than he is."

 

They had a war with eye contact: Taeyong beseeching and open; Jaehyun reticent, conflicted, sad, then accepting.

 

"Fine," Jaehyun said at last. He laughed and there was a touch of irony in it that made Doyoung feel cold. "I get it, I do," he said, "you value my life. I see your point. I _always_ see your point. You guys always go around making up your minds your own, and we end up going along because you make it sound like the most reasonable thing there is."

 

Doyoung was  _stunned._ His eyes met Taeyong's, which were distraught. They stared at each other in horror.

 

This was humourous to Jaehyun, whose mood always shifted in ways Doyoung could not expect. The mean, jarring edge to his voice faded away when he laughed. "I _knew_ you guys didn't know about that," he said, and it might have been affectionate.

 

"Is that what everyone thinks about us?" Taeyong had shrunk visibly into himself, and for a tenuous moment, Doyoung could have lashed out at Jaehyun for making him feel bad.

 

"Hey I don't think anyone  _minds_ yet," Jaehyun said, "you two just keep figuring out how things should be done with your weird telepathic thing, and everyone has to talk it out to realise they agree with you. Sometimes they have to admit they were wrong. That's gonna bruise someone's ego eventually."

 

"Wedon't have a _telepathic thing_ ," Doyoung said derisively. He couldn't believe that it was a conversation he even had to have. He and Taeyong had been slightly awkward for  _months_ -  _how_ did anyone not notice? After that the team had saved the world, but Doyoung still couldn't work up the courage to kiss him again. He couldn't tell at all if it was something Taeyong would want. It made him feel twitchy all day. He only  _wished_ they could read each other better. It was winter and they were down to pelting snowballs at one another when they used to roll around in the snow.

 

"You do!" Jaehyun insisted. "Nobody else gets your plans until you talk about them, not even me - and I'm supposed to be better at understand you guys than the rest!"

 

"That's mostly 'cos me and Taeyong _talk_ to each other," Doyoung scoffed with a customary roll of his eyes, but he knew that wasn't exactly all. Taeyong and him shared a wavelength when it came to these things; it was why Doyoung always thought they worked well as a unit.

 

A lot of it  _was_ because they talked a lot though. When you got to know as much about a person as Doyoung had Taeyong, you started to see through their eyes better. Their values and priorities happened to align a lot, which was why they backed each other up during meetings so often. It was a wonderful thing, and Doyoung didn't like that it might cause problems too.

 

Taeyong was still doing that extremely affecting large sad-eyes thing. Though Track mask was still one of the less good things in existence as far as Doyoung was concerned, it would be nice if somebody made the eyes stop. Taeyong as Track was a very efficient thinker, but getting out of the ice-blue outfit seemed to come with the side effect of over-thinking everything it was possible to over-think.

 

"Jaehyun, can you tell it properly?" Taeyong implored impatiently. It was all frustration with himself, not anything directed to Jaehyun. "You know I'm not socialised enough to understand all the time."

 

"You're the funniest empath," Jaehyun teased. "Nobody thinks that, okay? Or nobody knows they think that yet, more like. You make sure we get the right things done on time. They'll jump on it if you ever do anything wrong though. Thing about always going along with your plans is that people are going to start feeling as though you two are being too controlling, even if they agree with you."

 

Taeyong didn't look as though he felt any better about that. "I think I'm going to extend my retirement to reconsider my leadership."

 

Jaehyun snorted. "Just take a three-month break. After they get sick of taking days to do things you would have made us do in hours they'll miss your face."

 

"That won't change anything," Taeyong pointed out.

 

"Why fix it if it's not broken?" Jaehyun said, too audaciously, in Doyoung's opinion, for someone who had started complaining and messing with Taeyong’s feelings in the first place. "Anyway, you sure about the plan?"

 

"You _said_ you saw our point," Doyoung reminded him.

 

"We're not taking any risks we don't have to. We're sure."

 

"No risk except failure, you mean," Jaehyun said, combative for the sake of it. Then he sighed. "Johnny would approve any how."

 

"It's very conservative, " Doyoung agreed. "We're just going to have to make it more stable one way or another. We've been a stuck with our calculations but...we'll do it."

 

Jaehyun made an exaggerated look of distrust, then stood and stretched. "I'll leave you to it then. Have to go pick up my shoes for tonight." He looked at Taeyong, still mulling with his cupcakes forgotten, and pulled him up into a hug. "I'll owe you a drink if you pull it off, kay?"

 

"Mocha, not alcohol," Taeyong mumbled into Jaehyun's shoulder.

 

Jaehyun smiled his friend smile, not his Jeffrey smile. "With chocolate cubes at the side, yes. Call me if you change your mind?"

 

The corner of Taeyong's mouth quirked up, though hadn't quite shaken the insecure demeanour. He spoke confidently anyway. "Not going to happen."

 

They walked to the doorway to send him off. "Talk yourselves into coming to the party, would you?" Jaehyun said in place of a farewell. Jaehyun distaste for sentimentality forced him to never say goodbye.

 

"Just deliver the appetizers in a box for our dinner," Doyoung said, "they're the best part."

 

Jaehyun saluted as he turned away, an endorsement of their leadership as far as that brat was concerned.

 

Taeyong shut the door once he was no longer in sight. He relaxed visibly.

 

"Plan is a go, I guess," Doyoung said needlessly. Taeyong nodded. His eyes were suddenly fixated on Doyoung's face, studying him, for a reason Doyoung wasn't sure about.

 

"We'll have to run it past Sicheng soon," he said, and he was - what, watching for a reaction? He seemed surprised when he didn't find what he was looking for.

 

Doyoung gave him a questioning look but he shook it off easily. He went back to get the cupcakes from the sofa, and carried them into the study. "Come on," he called without looking back. Doyoung couldn't do much but follow.


	6. Chapter 6

Sicheng had come and gone after some cryptic statements had been said. On the positive side, he hadn't warned them that their plan was doomed to failure this time. They took it as a blessing.

 

On the lukewarm side, "the time for deciding if Taeil can be reached" had passed, but "magical means don't interfere with fate's domain," so they extrapolated that were good to go if they could get it right. None of them were happy with the hint at predestination, but there was nothing to do but work on.

 

The weaknesses in the circle and a lack of a ringing endorsement from Sicheng meant that the likelihood of their success at summoning Taeil back was probably depressingly low. But Doyoung didn't trust probabilities anymore.

 

They'd all lived through things they shouldn't have lived through, time and time again. Doyoung had read his medical record before so he knew that he'd had at least four shaves with death, only including the times he needed to be hospitalised. The other dangerous situations all blurred together in his mind. They'd even saved the world with only a hair of a chance, so pardon Doyoung for believing that human will was a greater determinant than whatever the voice in Sicheng' head said.

 

"It didn't sound bad," he commented to Taeyong after Sicheng left.

 

He didn't think he would get a normal response.

 

Taeyong had been hovering around him for as long as Sicheng was there. At first he'd scrutinised them both, and by the end, Doyoung got the sense that he wanted to tell him something. It was in the restless movements of his feet, and the way he bobbed up and down a little when he sat.

 

He knew Taeyong wanted to say something, but he hadn't expected what Taeyong had to say. (He hadn't let himself have expectations of what Taeyong had to say.)

 

They stood close. Every nerve end in Doyoung's body was hyper-aware of their proximity. This was going to be something significant.

 

Taeyong's eyes darted around like he was trying to focus on too many things at once, but when he got himself together, he stared into Doyoung's soul. "Doyoungie...I think I read it wrong. You're not interested in Sicheng like that are you?"

 

"Why the hell would you think that?" Doyoung breathed, at once dumbfounded and mesmerised by the intensity of his gaze. They were back in each other's orbit, like they used to be.

 

-No. Maybe they were going to crash.

 

"That day, when we were moving here. He talked to you when we met Hansol, and your emotions were very strong. It was like that time we- ...I know you kissed me when the aliens were doing their stuff, but I thought...but there wasn't that kind of emotion today - you and Sicheng. Doyoungie..."

 

In the silence, a huge crest of  _something_ built up between them. It was going to overwhelm them, but Doyoung wouldn't run - not this time.

 

"Doyoungie, I want to kiss you."

 

The wave crashed ashore. His heart soared. He wouldn't run. _This_ , he believed in that moment, was the reason he lived. Their lips met and everything between them fell into place again.

 

\---

 

They'd had to make their rounds after deciding to retire. Taeyong had wheedled a favour out of Hansol to take care of Doyoung's duties for him, so they dropped by to tell him the plan was a go.

 

Sicheng had approached Doyoung while Taeyong was talking to Hansol across the room. Doyoung hadn't known they spent time together often. Actually it was likely that they didn't. It just wasn't good for Sicheng to get lonely when he was so very sad, and Hansol had always liked having company when he set about his duties.

 

Doyoung had been watching Taeyong. They'd been apart for a longest time since they met, rebuilding their respective cities, and the last time they'd spent a day together, Doyoung had kissed him goodbye with the belief that he was sending him to his death. Then they'd had to mourn their friend, along with the good people in the Society who hadn't made it back from their confrontation with the aliens. The circumstances hadn't allowed them to do it together.

 

Doyoung realised he was still shaken by his experiences. Taeyong healthy and whole, like he was that very moment, still felt like something that could be taken away from him without warning. He drank in the sight of him, probably sucking up to Hansol to thank him for his help, spirit still intact and utterly alluring.

 

Sicheng appeared at his side while he was unguarded. "Doyoung," he said. It was only training that kept him from jumping in surprise.

 

"Sicheng. How are you?"

 

Sicheng smiled, but it didn't reach his eyes. "I'm okay. I'm happy - that you're still looking for him. Fate says I'm not allowed."

 

"Taeyong seems pretty confident."

 

Sicheng looked up to where Doyoung's gaze was directed. They watched for a few moments.

 

"It's good that he is," Sicheng said eventually. "I thought we were all going to die that day, but here we are. He's never defeated."

 

He never would be, as long as he was alive, Doyoung thought. A little bit faded now and then when times got rough perhaps, but he was the same person who had been brought up without an ounce of love and still fought his way to the middle of everyone's heart. He would believe in doing the impossible. "Do you think that we will find him?"

 

Sicheng shrugged. "I don't know. I always thought that when I killed things it was for good, but I'm a pessimistic person."

 

Taeyong laughed in the distance. Doyoung's ears perked up at the sound. He didn't know what Hansol had said to him, but he was thankful.

 

"You slept with him didn't you?" Sicheng said suddenly. Doyoung's heart skipped a beat. He couldn't have heard wrong, but _what?_  Sicheng smiled apologetically. "Sorry, I didn't know how to say that in a nicer way."

 

"How-how did you know?"

 

"You look at him like...you...you're very close. Anyone can see that."

 

"But that doesn't mean-"

 

"I nearly did, you know," Sicheng interrupted. "Sleep with him, I mean," he added, so there wasn't room for misinterpretation. Doyoung's stomach lurched.

 

The horrible feeling was jealousy, yes it was. It felt something like ground disappearing beneath his feet, and _rage_  at everyone, especially himself. He was speechless.

 

Sicheng was still smiling, but his smiles never meant anything. They only ever ranged from cynical to sorry to pained to a vague melancholy.

 

"He was very sincere. He's gentle, and he makes you feel like you're the centre of the world. He's honest about how he feels."

 

"I know," Doyoung said. His mouth was dry. He'd thought he was special.

 

"I think I watched him like you do for a while after that," Sicheng said. Doyoung didn't know if he wanted Sicheng to shut up or go on so they could commiserate. There was a part of him that was always, always going to be curious about _everything_ about Taeyong, and yet jealousy  _hurt_ more than he'd ever anticipated. He wanted-

 

Well he'd fucked it all up by being a coward, so he wasn't going to get what he wanted.

 

"He wouldn't do it though," Sicheng said quietly. "He wouldn't with me. Not ever, I think. He told me it'd hurt us both so he stopped us. He said something, and now I think it could only have been about you."

 

Even Doyoung's palms were dry. "Yeah?"

 

Sicheng was silent. He didn't speak again until Doyoung made himself turn to face him and they could look straight at each other.

 

"He told me he slept with somebody he was in love with once, and he couldn't go through with it with me because he realised he couldn't do it casually anymore. I guess that person was you."

 

 _In love with._ In love with. In love with.

 

The thoughts crowding his head flared into overdrive. It was a verbal confirmation of what Doyoung had escaped before hearing the last time; when Taeyong had looked up at him, large eyes bright and shining and sated and  _happy_ and open and he just knew what he was going to say, and he didn't know how to handle it.

 

"I was right, wasn't I?" Sicheng said, an edge of pride buried under all the melancholy. "He stopped us in the middle. I respected him a lot for that - that kind of control. He cared enough for me not to hurt my feelings, and he was smart enough not to hurt his own. We went to a dessert bar for dinner and he paid for everything because he was sorry. It's a good memory."

 

"Figures the both of you would go for dessert," Doyoung managed.

 

"I'm trying to matchmake you," Sicheng said honestly. "You'll both be happy. I think it's important to be happy now."

 

"It's not so easy," Doyoung said, shaking his head. "He was scared of hurting you because he knows what it feels like. But that's my fault, 'cos I hurt _him_. These things...hurt people aren't so easy to fix."

 

"But he  _loves_ you," Sicheng protested, "and you...love him?" Doyoung was silent. "You do, you  _do."_

 

"I can't even say it," Doyoung said dully. He could _think_ it now, but the words got stuck in his throat. He'd tried it, over the past few months to vocalise his feeling. He couldn't even say it out loud to himself in the privacy of his own room. 'Love' was a word people threw around all the time, so much so that what his mind knew, he couldn't make himself say, for fear that it'd diminish the importance of his feelings to anyone else. It wasn't just about Taeyong; he remembered being five years old and hung-up about it because his mother told him she loved him when he couldn't fall asleep. He'd squeaked back a 'you too' and scampered off to his own room.

 

He was afraid of hearing Taeyong say it. What if Taeyong didn't mean it as deeply as he did when he said it? What if he _did?_

 

He knew himself, and he knew Taeyong. The only way he saw them being together was if they were together for the rest of their lives. But was young, and that could be a long time.

 

And yet, not being together made him hurt every day. Regret plagued his entire being, and cast a shadow on everything he did. He wondered, too often to be healthy, about what it could have been and what it could be.

 

He jumped when Sicheng touched his shoulder for attention.

 

"I'm sorry," Sicheng said, "I shouldn't interfere. I made you panic."

 

"I think like this a lot when I'm alone," Doyoung admitted, out of kindness to an extent. He didn't want Sicheng to feel guilty about another thing when he already went about his life fighting with his conscience.

 

"I just...well I know you can't do it here, but I keep thinking about you two, and I thought you were the kind who would get married one day. Maybe I've been thinking too much about this. I'm sorry."

 

"That…that _is_  what I want," Doyoung said plaintively. It was an admission that made his heart race again, that made him want to hide and bury all his emotions so he wouldn't have to feel them so strongly. That hasn't worked the last time - and Doyoung realised now that he could never give in to his fears ever again.

 

It made Sicheng look back up from his feet hopefully, before he bit his lip and reigned his expression back to normal.

 

"Sicheng," Doyoung said with wonderment, "you're not a pessimist at all."

 

Sicheng looked back at him in surprise, like he'd discovered something that had been lost for a long time. Then he smiled, and it was a real one this time.

 

\---

 

"Ah wait-  _Doyoungie_ let me go, we can't do anything if you don't let my security system register you."

 

"Says you! Your teeth have been stuck to my neck since we were on the roof and you think you get to nag at me just 'cos you separate yourself for _five seconds?"_

 

Taeyong had clicked his tongue. "You're such a drama queen." He flicked open the cover of his room's fingerprint scanner. The system went through the whole retina analysis, DNA swab, security question rigmarole in a matter of seconds. He stepped aside to let it grant Doyoung access to the room. It hit a roadblock for a particularly annoying minute because Doyoung had left the coat that was part of his uniform...somewhere, maybe the stairs, and the system was stubborn about recognising him when his arms were bare.

 

When it got to the end, Taeyong hit 'permanent entry' instead of the usual temporary option. _That_ triggered a whole lot of other tedious security measures that Taeyong wouldn't have been able to handle if he hadn't been U-Know's partner.

 

"Breaking protocol much?" Doyoung'd asked with a raised eyebrow, but he'd been touched. It was so nice to have their trust reaffirmed that it almost offset his impatience to just  _get on with it._ (Okay, maybe not.)

 

Taeyong's grin was blinding. Seconds later, Doyoung was tugged into the room, and roughly maneuvered such that his back was against the closed door. The kiss, in contrast, was soft and tender.

 

When they broke apart for air, Doyoung had to hold the back of Taeyong's head in place to stop his teeth from going to his neck again. "It's gonna bruise you ass," he hissed.

 

Taeyong smirked. "All the more reason," he said. And yes,  _okay,_ Doyoung  _did_ particularly like when there was pressure at the place where his neck met his shoulder, and he _did_ like when clean freak Taeyong licked the entire length of his neck, but if he'd allowed it happen he would have came in his pants right there before they had sex, which was totally not the point.

 

He made obvious glances at Taeyong's bed and allowed himself to be tugged there by the wrist.

 

"You're so impatient," Taeyong griped. To be fair, Doyoung  _was._  All their play-fights on the rooftop had dissolved into making-out sessions as of the late, so this was really a natural succession. He'd been thinking about it for ages.

 

Instead of speaking, Doyoung tried to wrestle Taeyong down against the mattress to get back the good kissing angle. Taeyong had other ideas though. He evaded Doyoung's limbs to sit up against the pillows. "We should take off our masks," he said.

 

The combination of extreme sexual frustration and affection was very new. "You're sentimental," Doyoung said as he snatched his own off, instead of admitting he agreed. The moment he'd taken a second to think about it, he realised that he really did not want to have sex with Taeyong for the first time without being able to see all of his face.

 

Taeyong smiled softly. He dropped the mask.

 

The pure _contentment_ in his eyes took Doyoung aback. They were dark, lustful, but sated at the same time.  _God_ was that how he looked every time they kissed?

 

"Doyoungie," he said, so happy that his voice was almost a giggle. Then he twisted Doyoung around so that he could sit on his lap, and they kissed again. (And again, and again. Gentle, sweet, messy, competitive, warm, teasing...)

 

Eventually the giddiness made way for something more heady. Taeyong irritatingly skipped off his lap just as his arousal verged on being impossible to control.

 

"What are you doing?" Doyoung asked, stupid from all the blood being directed away from his brain. Taeyong produced a condom and a bottle of lube from his bedside table. It was brand new and standard issue. Given how much Taeyong liked artificial fragrances, it was likely something U-Know forced him to keep around rather than something he picked out for himself.

 

"Ever did this?" he asked.

 

Doyoung shook his head. It occurred to him that they were both fully clothed. Why the hell was that so?

 

Taeyong got back into bed and twined his legs around Doyoung's hips. The contact through the thin layers of their uniforms sent a jolt up Doyoung's spine.

 

"I have," Taeyong said.

 

It took a while for that to register in Doyoung's head, clouded as it was by lust. "Huh...wait.  _What? When?"_

 

Doyoung couldn't fathom when he could have found the time to do anything like that, for Doyoung hadn't even been on a date in years. He and Taeyong were too busy living in each other's pockets, absorbed in the relationship the built, for him to have found the emotional capacity to get into trysts anyone else. It had taken years for them to reach this stage. He didn't like the thought of Taeyong being with anyone else without him knowing about it in the meantime in the least.

 

Taeyong smiled sheepishly. "Ages ago. I don't even think about it much now. Think I was sixteen? Remember monastery mail boy? He asked me if I wanted to have sex once, and I said maybe, so he brought his stuff over the next time."

 

Considering monastery mail boy had probably thought of Taeyong as a weapon in training rather than an actual human  _and_ deliberately kept him in the dark about his organisations terrible motives, Doyoung would have been happier with the situations his own mind had come out with earlier. Taeyong had been lonelier that Doyoung could ever imagine being. He'd been friendless and parentless all his life and this person had come along and taken advantage of it. Doyoung would have disrupted their moment to march down to jail and kill him if Taeyong wouldn't have forbidden it. In fact, if Taeyong ever gave the green light, Doyoung would still do it. "Dude, that's fucked up," was all he'd been able to find within himself to say.

 

Taeyong had pecked the side of his mouth comfortingly. "My brain tells me it was a bad thing too now, but I didn't feel hurt by it so it's okay. It was thrilling at the time."

 

"At least I think the monks would have been mad," Doyoung said, because he could tell that Taeyong didn't want to ponder seriously about all the implications of his first sexual encounter any longer.

 

Taeyong shot him a grateful look. "I'm too good for them to notice. And the worst virgin sacrifice."

 

The silence that followed had been a lot heavier than the atmosphere before that. Doyoung was decidedly not as enthusiastic about sex as he had been minutes prior, even though his body hadn't caught up with his mind.

 

Taeyong, like he could see the flagging resolve and warring thoughts in Doyoung's mind, pulled him lightly into a kiss again. He moved downwards, leaving open-mouthed kisses down Doyoung's neck, his collar bones, then he undid the zipper of Doyoung's vest and kissed down his chest to Doyoung's belly, which was warm and still flip-flopping with anticipation. He kissed down to the waistline of Doyoung's pants, then went back up to kiss him on the mouth.

 

"Don't let that ruin this for us, please," he whispered.

 

Doyoung studied his eyes carefully. "If you're sure, I still want to."

 

There wasn't a trace of bravado or insecurity on Taeyong’s face. "I'm sure," he said. It was all the reassurance Doyoung needed.

 

Doyoung chased his mouth with his own. It was easy - too easy - to fall back into lust and desire once he knew it was alright. When they were finally unclothed, every touch of skin against skin made Doyoung tremble with want, stronger than he'd experienced before. Doyoung wanted to map out the entire of Taeyong's body with his hands, with his mouth, so that he'd be able to remember it with eyes closed, to let it be the only thing he dreamt about at night.

 

He squeezed the maddening jut of Taeyong's hipbones harder than he had to; littered Taeyong's skin with marks and scratches he was all too happy to bear, and took them back in kind. It was a clumsy exploration, but it was good. And they'd get better at it, Doyoung thought.

 

Taeyong reached for the condom again, and somehow still had enough coordination to get the foil packet to tear right. It was after he opened it that he puzzled at it. "I think you should use it this time," he said, before Doyoung had a chance to inquire. "'cos then it'll be the first time for both of us." His eyes met Doyoung's, curved and smiling. "It'll be special-est that way, right?"

 

 _I love you,_ Doyoung had nearly said.

 

"Special-est," he echoed instead. "It will be. I'll get you a dictionary for Christmas." He hoped that somehow his voice could carry all the soft indulgent feelings he couldn't say. Taeyong laughed brightly like he knew.

 

"You'll get it back for your birthday," Taeyong said.

 

There had always been a part of Doyoung's mind that was concerned that sex wasn't as good as people said it was; that he wouldn't enjoy it because it didn't seem very appealing from a technical standpoint. But Taeyong dragged him out of his mind, distracted him with gentle touches and terrible jokes and the delectable swell of his pink lips; with mischief at the corner of his mouth and flushed cheeks and kind eyes.

 

Sex itself was a wonderful new thing _(God it was)_ but the things going on in his head were surprisingly  _not_ new. It was the same affinity, the same easy companionship, the same devotion, with the intensity dialled up by a tiny fraction.

 

It had been enough to make the feelings that had been building up over the years tip over and spill all around his head in a mess.

 

Doyoung didn't think he had been as acutely happy as he was right then in all his years of existence. It terrified him.

 

It hadn't been the right time to be having those thoughts, but Doyoung's mind was structured to wander off to entertain trivial things when big things were happening in his life. With his fears consolidating all of a sudden, and the indescribably amazing sensation of Taeyong's tight heat around his cock, Doyoung's mind was surely, surely going into overdrive.

 

With another thrust and an inelegant twist of Doyoung's hand around his erection, Taeyong came with high pitched cry, and Doyoung finally allowed himself to reach his release.

 

Taeyong sprawled languidly, panting slightly, cheeks ruddy and a laugh at the tip on his tongue. There were marks all over his body and come on his stomach, and his hair and his sheets were all a mess. Doyoung had never seen anything more beautiful.

 

But his mind was yelling ten different things at him and he didn't know what to do.

 

Taeyong cracked open an eyelid, and he was probably going to say something snarky-

 

-but it wasn't that gleam in his eye. It was different.

 

Taeyong was going to tell Doyoung that he loved him, and Doyoung couldn't deal with that, so he committed the image to memory where it would haunt him for months to come, and made an excuse to run away.

 

He couldn't make himself turn back to look at Taeyong, for he wouldn't be able to live with the hurt he would see.

 

\---

 

"We were talking about you, silly," Doyoung said after they broke apart. Taeyong made a questioning sound at the back of his throat. "Me and Sicheng," Doyoung clarified, "the emotions you felt were because we were talking about you."

 

"Oh," Taeyong said in surprise, very pleased.

 

"I didn't even know you sensed anything that day."

 

Taeyong tilted his head shrewdly. "Didn't think you wanted to talk about it, to be honest. The purple onions are in a blue plastic bag near the garlic bulbs though. The shallots are in the red container. How didn't you see them?"

 

Doyoung _knew_ he'd lied about that! He tugged him closer and flicked him on the forehead. "Bastard." It was nice to be able to do that again. If anything, Taeyong looked even more pleased.

 

"We're together now then?"

 

Doyoung couldn't nod fast enough. "Yes, if you still want."

 

"I do still want."

 

There was a calm in Doyoung's head that hadn't been around the first time. As he watched Taeyong bite his lip cutely to stop himself from smiling too widely, all his fears slipped away.

 

"I love you," he said.

 

Taeyong inhaled sharply in shock, then his face settled into a serene expression. He was the loveliest person Doyoung had ever laid eyes on.

 

"I love you too," he said, and they smiled stupidly at each other, hands intertwined, for minutes and minutes.


	7. Chapter 7

It was a still night.

 

The air was so stagnant that the curtains barely moved before the open windows. The cars that drove past did so orderly. The food they had for dinner was light enough that it barely left a scent in the house. Sounds emanated throughout the kitchen on occasion as they washed and dried their dishes or said a few words to one another, but it was the silence that permeated obtrusively.

 

It was the calm before the storm.

 

At twenty-nine minutes to midnight, they switched the lights off and made their way to the safe house's Zap system.

 

It was time.

 

\---

 

"Your roots are showing," was the first thing they were rudely greeted by upon materialising on the roof at HQ. Yuta.

 

"Nice to see you too," Doyoung said sarcastically, on auto-pilot. It was quiet as well, at HQ. Everyone was occupying themselves. Waiting.

 

The sky was covered with clouds, but there wasn't a moon to hide in any case. Mark's affinity with magic peaked with the new moon, so that was the day they gathered. They'd finished designing the circle a few days prior, working through the final kinks with Mark, then were kept busy visiting each if their teammates individually to give them the brief and updating the Soc about their progress. Doyoung never enjoyed the administration phase of carrying out plans.

 

"You're dressed up nice," Yuta sneered at Taeyong. Yuta was the best at running his mouth without his mind connected when he so desired. Sometimes it was irritating, but sometimes Doyoung couldn't imagine how stifling awkward silences would be without him around to break them up.

 

"Have to put your best face forward at a welcome party," Taeyong said flippantly, implying, with careless confidence, a success they were all anxious out of their minds about. It probably made half of the rest of them feel better and half of them feel worse.

 

"My mother's _protégé,_  truly," Jaehyun gushed with false reverence.

 

"Except I love your mother," Yuta said.

 

"Everyone loves my mother," Jaehyun said. It was true - she was a very special woman. She was as pleasant as a person could be, who'd turned frivolity into the most intellectual kind of fine art imaginable. She was as elegant and beautiful as a goddess; unapproachable yet warm. On top of that, she passively supported her twenty-one-year-old son's mad crusade to change the country. She was wonderful.

 

Sicheng nodded in the corner to agree. He sent Doyoung a slightly questioning look when their eyes met. Doyoung let a trace of a smile onto his face. Sicheng's eyes widened, surprised. He glanced at Taeyong, then back at Doyoung, and smiled back. They'd talk about it, at the right place and the right time.

 

As the minutes ticked, the rest began trickling in bit by bit: first Ten, who had to Zap in from overseas, then Hansol, then Johnny and Mark who showed up together. They must have met up for some reason, but they didn't discuss it. Mark set about etching the circle on the ground with chalk as soon as he reached, without a word of greeting.

 

Donghyuck was the last to show up, still in stage make-up, looking very harried.

 

"Filming went over time so I made a break for it," he panted between breaths as he materialised. "You guys gotta help me think of an excuse later or my manager's gonna kill me."

 

Mark looked up from his work for the first time since reaching. "Dude, it's almost _midnight,"_ he pointed out uselessly.

 

"Well yes, we can all tell the time," Donghyuck said cattily. Then he noticed Doyoung standing in front of him _in civilian attire_  and whipped around to find Taeyong. His eyes narrowed when they found him in a non-winter ready leather jacket, taking quietly to Johnny. "Why are you guys still decommissioned?" he demanded to know.

 

"Ah, we're extending our retirement for a bit beyond this," Taeyong broke off his conversation with Johnny to say. "Was going to call a meeting tomorrow to discuss that."

 

"I advocated for it," Jaehyun chimed in, "you'll thank me one day."

 

"Did you _miss_ us?" Doyoung simpered.

 

"He  _did,"_ Yuta cackled.

 

Donghyuck rolled his eyes. "No." Then he went on to cling to Doyoung because he knew that Doyoung detested people doing that without permission. Doyoung's clothes were going to be smudged with lip tint and eyeliner. He grimaced.

 

Taeyong hid his laugh behind his hand, while Yuta didn't bother hiding anything. Doyoung tried shaking Donghyuck off to no avail. He was left to suffer until Donghyuck finally let go on his own terms, with the most provocative smirk on his face.

 

"I missed you very very much," Donghyuck said in a squeaky, insincere tone. In a strange way, he only said things he really meant when he pretended not to mean them.

 

Doyoung missed him too, sort of. And he still worried about the number of identities the kid had to juggle.

 

"You should find yourself better songwriters," he said to get them back into a normal conversation. It was the type of thing Donghyuck would appreciate.

 

Donghyuck sighed. "We do have good ones. Someone just wrote new lyrics over one of those ancient ballad demos from the vault this time and made me sing it."

 

Doyoung laughed. "Your new single is like some debut era shit."

 

"Don't call my era shit," Donghyuck gasped with mock outrage. But Doyoung had been around when he'd tossed all the posters he had from that time into their campfire. Doyoung still had several of then rolled up in a tube, corny smiles and baby fat all around.

 

Taeil had them too. His sister had been a fan when she was younger. When she was going to chuck them out because she moved on to actors, Taeil had tacked the faded posters onto his own wall.

 

They were finally going to get him back. He'd been gone for a month. They'd held two funerals.

 

He'd been gone for too long.

 

"It's gonna work, right?" Donghyuck asked, uncharacteristically uncertain.

 

"Your guess is as good as mine, honestly," Doyoung sighed.

 

"But you and Taeyong think so."

 

Doyoung nodded slowly. There were many reasons to doubt they they could pull it off. There were even reasons to doubt that Taeil was in a place they could reach. Despite that, Doyoung didn't believe they would fail - not really. It might have been the denial stage of grief, so illogical it was. Donghyuck looked slightly reassured nonetheless. Doyoung didn't have the heart to tell him that it was unjustified.

 

It was strange to speak casually when everything was so tense.

 

"We're up guys, it's done," Mark called all of a sudden. Every sentence being uttered on the roof died midway. They’d all be on the alert for his signal.

 

Mark guided each of them to their places, careful to ensure none of them smudged his lines. Their places were linked by an asymmetric number of lines, carefully decided upon after days of religiously researching magical theory. Ten, the strongest, was to stand next to Taeyong, whose powers were the most negligible, and a full diameter away from Hansol, the next strongest.

 

Mark had cautiously green-lighted their design when they presented it to him. As far as magic theory was concerned, it beyond what any of them had been educated in - even Mark. It was, however, as crafted with as much faultless logic as they could manage. Mark's experience with magic couldn’t spot many improvements to increase their chances.

 

They were actually going to do it.

 

Jaehyun and Sicheng stood at a good vantage point a safe distance away.

 

Doyoung took his place between Donghyuck and Yuta. Mark stood at the centre, feet a shoulder's width apart. Everyone else joined hands around him. Mark began to chant. The next thing he knew, the chalk lines lit up in a blinding white light. Doyoung shut his eyes and squeezed the hands he held tighter in order not to fall over.

 

\---

 

Okay so they were all linked. That was cool. New. Kind of scary.

 

Doyoung was pretty sure his eyes were open, but he couldn't see anything. Everything was bright and white. He couldn't feel his feet on the ground either. His senses were gone.

 

He was surrounded by thoughts that weren't his. They didn't belong in his mind. Was he in his own mind?

 

There were foreign emotions. They were as strong as the emotions of present situations. It was an onslaught.

 

Doyoung located familiar emotions in the midst. Those had to be his own. He'd forgotten about some of them. It was like reliving the experiences, just in a fraction of the time they'd taken to happen.

 

There was a lot of amusement. Taeil was a quirky person.

 

All this emotion was about Taeil.

 

There was a lot of gratitude that wasn't his. Camaraderie that warmed like a hearth. Fear, suspicion, wariness - all his own, from the early days. Doyoung couldn't relate to his own feelings, but those had been his, and they were out for everyone to experience.

 

Love. A spectrum of it. Love of family, love of friends, love of brotherhood. All different, but all the same - love, love, love. Something akin to what he felt for Taeyong - someone had been keeping secrets, the cognisant part of Doyoung's mind recognised.

 

Failure, anger, betrayal, hurt, shame, guilt. Ugly feelings they'd felt and forgiven, that made up their experiences with Taeil as much as the ones they treasured more.

 

Grief. From his death. The helpless scream that Doyoung had let out in the observation room. Everyone else's grief. Disbelief. It wrenched his heart to feel it all.

 

He was crying. He could _feel_  tears collecting at the corners of his eyes, and Donghyuck's palm against his own, then the white state stabilised again.

 

Fuck it'd be bad if Mark was too affected to keep them all in the circle.

 

Something else caused a tremor. It had to be the power fluctuations. Doyoung panicked, but Mark was back in control again, if tenuous. He smoothened the disruption over.

 

It was white again. Fear, fear. Collective fear of never getting him back. Fear at missions, fear at the medical bay, and smaller fears. Fear at getting caught for stealing his last cookie - that was weirdly specific.

 

Oh, the emotions were getting less general. They came with locations now, and events, times, and verbal traces. Some of this wasn't going to be private after they left. Doyoung could identify who some of these memories belonged to.

 

Love again. Love was overwhelming. Grief. The funerals. Giving out his presents with Sicheng - Hansol?

 

Some of it was more of a distant respect. Not all of them got to spend that much time at HQ getting to know him after all. These were fainter. Important too, in their own way, but fizzled out before anything but an echo could come of them.

 

Then floated by a strand of belief, silver in the white space, that Taeil had never died. It was certainty that hadn't faltered for a second. Doyoung was amazed at the optimism.

 

Fucking hell, it had to be Taeyong's, that crazy bastard.

 

Doyoung knew, though he couldn't tell how, that this was what fate had referred to when he said that the time for determining their chances had past. It was _belief_ that kept Taeil connected to them. If nobody at all had believed, their ties would have been severed.

 

Then there were other threads of silver that met it. Doyoung's own, brighter than he expected. The silver strengthened and grew, braided and twined into an unbreakable chain, lengthened, reached-

 

And a mass came hurtling from its end.  _Taeil??_ Mark struggled. The white space flickered, flickered, shattered. Doyoung panicked. He sent a desperate prayer to whatever deity existed that Mark had held on for long enough.

 

They were jolted back to the physical plane.

 

\---

 

_"Help!"_ Sicheng screamed.

 

Doyoung quickly reoriented himself, and caught sight of Sicheng hanging off the edge of the building. _How-_

 

He levitated him back to the safety of the rooftop. His mind was met with more weight that he expected.

 

Sicheng had been holding on to Taeil's hand. Somehow he'd nearly been thrown off the building when they summoned him.

 

They could have lost him again.

 

But he was back. Back!

 

"Taeil!" Yuta shouted, the first one to get the use of his voice back. He ran towards him and knocked him back down against Sicheng in an attempt to hug him. This broke everyone out of a trance.

 

Soon, everyone was pushing past each other, crowding around Taeil, reaching out to touch his arm, his hair, his shoulder, to steal a hug if they were lucky, just to make sure he was there. There were tears around, as they finally dared to believe that Taeil really alive to stay.

 

For Doyoung, it was like an elephant had gotten off his chest. The anguish he'd experienced the day they'd lost Taeil had never subsided, it had merely diminished into a more manageable state.

 

He pushed everyone else out of the way to hug Taeil tight - and there he was, warm and soft and real. Alive. Skinnier than he'd been when he'd left (which meant they'd had a countdown over their heads even if they hadn't known...Doyoung didn't want to think about it) but _back_.

 

Taeil had to be feeling so much  _more_ than them at that very moment, but he still managed to smile, to share his presence with everyone who needed it. His warm eyes told Doyoung that he knew how he'd suffered because of all this, and it soothed him, filling the aching hole facing loss had left in him. Taeil's natural ability to comfort hadn't faded with the trauma he'd been through. Doyoung was utterly grateful for it.

 

He wanted to keep holding on, but forced himself to stop being selfish once he could bear to let him go. He could cling to him later. Taeil was back for good.

 

Buoyed and off-kilter, he stumbled off to let everyone else have their moment. Taeil would probably be on the receiving end of way too many hugs for the days to follow, he thought.

 

He looked around and saw Jaehyun with Taeyong. Jaehyun looked satisfied but not celebratory like the rest of them. His feelings always had a lid slapped on them. Taeyong, meanwhile, hovered around the edges and was obviously almost pleased enough to sprout wings and do a victory lap. Doyoung made his way towards them.

 

There wasn't a place for them to start a conversation so they just smiled at each other, and at the happy tangled mess their team mates were. Yuta hadn't shut up once since he started talking, and Mark had the happiest little smile on his exhausted face. Donghyuck adorably tried his best not to follow Taeil around like a little duckling. And Sicheng, Sicheng was awestruck and reverent and wide-eyed. He looked young. Doyoung couldn't begin to imagine how he felt.

 

"We should call his family," Taeyong said.

 

"Yes," Doyoung said, but he didn't want to move.

 

"Sicheng saved him," Taeyong added, some pride creeping into his voice. He did, didn't he? If Sicheng hadn't been at the edge of the roof at that moment, everything they'd done might have been in vain.

 

"He knew before it happened," Jaehyun told them, "fate's voice said something when you were stuck in your circle, so Sicheng was waiting."

 

It was good, Doyoung decided, that the same thing that had gotten rid of Taeil had saved him. It would be closure for Sicheng.

 

"Sicheng says fate's voice is gone now," Jaehyun said quietly. "We won't have second chances to save the world from now on."

 

It seemed that truly nothing came for free. But having Taeil back, and seeing Sicheng unburdened for once in his life, Doyoung couldn't bring himself to have any regrets, however short-sighted that might have been.

 

"It's still a good night," he said, and there wasn't any arguing with that. Their team was whole again.


	8. Chapter 8

From the rooftops of their place at the outskirts of the city, the brightest stars could sometimes be seen, but only if you laid still. Otherwise, the bright little motion-censor lights near the stairs would flicker on and stay that way for a good five minutes. Five minutes was a very long time to expect stillness from Taeyong.

 

The floor was cold beneath their backs. It was just a matter of time before the cold got biting instead of refreshing, and they'd find themselves stuck together for body heat. It had been this was for a long time, predating their years of shared experiences. Doyoung didn't always like when people touched him, so it was either that Taeyong had read him particularly well from the start or that Doyoung had always been more receptive towards him. He liked Taeyong in his space; not always, but most of the time. He itched for contact when it was gone for too long.

 

They could have just laid in silence in the house. Of course, they never even considered it. It was the first night in a long time that they were completely free of their responsibilities. Retirement wasn't all it was cut out to be.

 

Though rooftops were the setting of more turning points in their lives than any other, they still had the most inexplicable calming effect on them. It was a place to surround yourself with darkness and silence and reflective thoughts. It was a place to share the secrets that spent the days consuming you.

 

On the roof, the world spun around them. The clouds in their vision were always in motion, but _they_ weren't. No matter what happened to them, when they were there, they were untouchable.

 

Perhaps it was stupid to attribute so much to a type of location. Everyone did it though, in their own way. They'd go insane without an anchor with all the duties they carried out. For Jaehyun, relaxing was going to the gym. For Heechul, it was boutique tailors at obscure corners of the world. For Doyoung, it was hanging out at the top of a building with Taeyong after midnight.

 

"I think I'm growing attached to this place," Doyoung said.

 

"The roof?" Taeyong asked. "It's almost as good as HQ."

 

"The roof too, but I meant the house."

 

"Oh." Taeyong shifted and Doyoung's arm was dragged along a little. "I like it too. It's great." The sides of his shoes rhythmically made sounds against the floor as he shook his feet outwards to the ground then inwards to meet each other. They made little squeaking sounds.

 

It wasn't even really the house Doyoung was talking about. It wasn't his to get attached to after all, it was Max's. It was more about having a place to arrange and make their own. It struck him that it would be good to make it more permanent.

 

Except he and Taeyong only just gotten together, and Doyoung wouldn't want to take the risk if Taeyong had any reservations at all. As much as he'd like to, they didn't have to rush into things. If Taeyong didn't suggest it, he wouldn't ask yet. He wouldn't be able to deflect the negative thoughts as well as he wanted to if we were let down. Besides, knowing Taeyong, he'd come strolling in one day with Max's title deed in hand and an offer he'd genuinely be understanding about if Doyoung rejected. Doyoung would not.

 

"I think Taeil is trying to live here too," Doyoung said instead, the next most salient thing on his mind.

 

Taeyong laughed. "He always leaves a mess when he uses my room. But I'm glad he can sleep here."

 

Because Taeil definitely wasn't sleeping at home. The first time he showed up, he texted about coming over right before ringing their doorbell. It had only been two days since they brought him back. They hadn't expected to see him so soon. The team promised to leave him in peace so their family would have time to themselves.

 

However, their friend hadn't been able to settle down after coming home. He was well enough in the day when everyone was awake, but coped badly on his own at night. Aware that the team wouldn't pile on the well-intended overbearing worry (and that most of them had sleeping habits that were out of whack), he sought refuge with Doyoung and Taeyong. With a few nights of tiring himself out at their place, Taeil regained the ability to catch a new hours of nap time here and there. It was a relief.

 

Taeil's ordeal definitely left him with a collection of mental scars. Doyoung, when researching torture methods that could be used against them, once read a research paper suggesting that one couldn't be stuck in a stasis of sensory deprivation for more than three days without incurring brain damage on some level. Time passed by differently wherever Taeil was, but he said he'd been alone for far longer than that nonetheless.

 

For all his time in...wherever, Taeil stayed alive and awake. He had been fully conscious the entire time. His body lost its strength, but he knew he wouldn't die. As long as someone truly believed he was alive, he couldn't move on. He had been held back by their blind faith that he was alive. He could have been stuck there for even longer if they had been slower to bring him back.

 

It was the elephant in the room that Taeil had wished to die when he was there. It haunted him still. When you've looked death in the face and begged for it...well, it wasn't something you could get over just because you got out of the situation.

 

These weren't things they could help him with. All they could do was lend him their space and their understanding, and bury their stress-inducing hopes that he'd become his old self again. At the end of it, all his issues were his to confront.

 

At the very least he had a good support system. Doyoung's brother had slipped Taeil his one of his mentor's contact's business cards at some point, so he was getting proper therapy too, from a person who understood what he'd been through. And he  _was_ trying his best to adapt to normal life again, so Doyoung was hopeful that he would bounce back like he wanted to so desperately.

 

That night, Taeil was out with his sister and Sicheng for a quiet little dinner. They'd all probably cry which was kind of funny to think about. It would be good for them.

 

It gave Doyoung and Taeyong privacy they were wasting by freezing their asses off on the roof.

 

Taeyong nudged him out of his thoughts. Doyoung looked at him in question.

 

"Do you think it's normal to bring your boyfriend when you meet your parents for the first time?"

 

Doyoung blinked in surprise. "I mean- as long as you want me to go, I want to go. I don't think there's a normal for this. Most people meet their parents before their boyfriends, you know."

 

"Right," Taeyong said a little sheepishly. "I forgot. I want you there."

 

"I kind of thought it was assumed I would go with you," Doyoung said dryly.

 

"I think I did too, but it's rude not to make sure, right? You don't have anything on tomorrow morning, do you?"

 

 _"Tomorrow,"_ Doyoung repeated. "Dude, do you even know who your family is? Or is this a nice way of asking me to pull an all-nighter with you to read those files?"

 

Taeyong chewed on his lower lip hesitantly. He was silly and clumsy enough to give himself mouth ulcers that way so Doyoung thumbed his lip to stop him. Taeyong licked his thumb just because he could (and he had a slight obsession with leaving as much saliva as possible on Doyoung's skin). Doyoung wiped it against Taeyong's cheek to annoy him. Taeyong giggled.

 

"Tomorrow morning?" Doyoung said again to get him back on track.

 

Taeyong looked at him with huge, sparkling eyes, anxiety and excitement boundless. "No all-nighter. I had a feeling about one of the families when we skimmed through the files so I made an appointment. It's a whim, but humour me?"

 

Doyoung personally didn't  _like_ whims, but what did his opinion count for in this matter? "It's  _your_ family," he remarked. "Is it one of your empath things?"

 

Taeyong peered at Doyoung, in the way that he did when he was looking for a way to express something important to him. His eyes glittered with something approximating anticipation.

 

"Get on with it," Doyoung grumbled to dispel the tension without meaning it.

 

Taeyong decided to stare at him even more intently.

 

"Doyoungie," he said, voice at once softer and more powerful than the authoritative one the world attributed to his public persona. That one could convince Doyoung that he could move mountains with his mind; this one would make him try even if it killed him.

 

"What is it?" Doyoung asked.

 

"Hmm...it was like coming home." Doyoung waited patiently for him to explain the non-sequitur while tracing patterns on his stomach. Every time his fingers grazed the sensitive area near Taeyong's navel, his muscles contracted, even more sensitive from the cold. Doyoung dipped his fingers lower to trace Taeyong's hipbone. His breath caught audibly, to Doyoung's pleasure.

 

"Seoul was," Taeyong elaborated in the midst of Doyoung's feathery caress. "When I got down from the train the first time I was here, I knew that I had been here before. Different cities feel different, yeah?"

 

"I guess," Doyoung said slowly. "The collective conscience is different. Like when we flew over to Chicago, and you said that the city louder and more relaxed?"

 

"Yeah," Taeyong said, pleased to be understood. "The only missing baby from Seoul at that time was this family’s, so I'm pretty sure."

 

"Alright then," Doyoung said, his need for logic assuaged. He waited for Taeyong to get to the part he wanted to share.

 

"I think though, that coming home now is about being with people I like most," Taeyong continued. "I never liked anyone when I was young, and I never _felt_ home for all that I lived in the same place for years."

 

"I get it," Doyoung said, throat dry, earlier thoughts about nesting in safe house 3 relevant again. Home was a person, but he wanted them to have a place. The question was at the tip of his tongue -  _do you want to live with me forever?_ Was 'forever' too much? It wasn't like he believed in soulmates. He didn't even believe in true love. They weren't getting married. They'd been dating for a matter of _weeks._ But it seemed like the best idea. He wanted it. Oh darn, he'd take the initiative for this one. He just had to plan for the right situation.

 

Taeyong put his hand over Doyoung's, where it had stilled. Their eyes met. "It's the same for you right? I get that feeling like coming to the city for the first time but _way_ stronger when I'm with people I care about most. You, Yunho, Jaehyun. Everyone else too, sometimes. Pretty sure Jaehyun doesn't think about me like that though."

 

"Jaehyun just doesn't thinklike that in general," Doyoung said. "It doesn't mean he doesn't love you in his own way." Taeyong smiled. He didn't doubt it.

 

"But it's mostly you," Taeyong confessed. His eyes bore intensely into Doyoung's. Doyoung twined their fingers together, their fingertips all similarly frozen. It shouldn’t have been so comfortable.

 

"I've been thinking about something a little bit lately," Taeyong went on. "I wondered if I was going to live with my family at all if I found them, like everyone else does, but I'm too old I think. Then I thought about it more and realised that I don't want to. I'm not sure if it's normal to say this, but I wanna live with _you_."

 

Doyoung had to run the words through his mind to make sure he'd heard right. Oh. _Oh,_ fuck. That happened sooner than expected. That impulsive ass had pipped him to the question! - how _dare_ he when Doyoung was making plans? _Yes me too forever,_ the feeling part of his brain wanted him to say, but his tongue was thankfully glued to the inside of his mouth. He laughed. He grinned. Taeyong's eyes sparkled. Doyoung knew his eyes never had the same effect, but he'd be damned if they weren't as bright in that moment.

 

"I- same. Yeah. I love you," he blurted. He still didn't say it often. Taeyong pulled the words out of him more often than he'd otherwise use them.

 

The corners of Taeyong's mouth tilted up, smug as always when he made Doyoung admit his feelings out loud and more still because he got what he wanted. It was a quirk of smile that Doyoung never could resist, taunting, waiting to be kissed. His gaze, expressive as ever, melted into a warmer one meant for Doyoung alone, teasing, tender feelings reflected far too plainly. Doyoung could look at him all night.

 

He was so relentlessly  _lovely._ Doyoung's affection for him was always going to be greater than he'd ever get used to dealing with. He had a long time to learn.

 

Taeyong lowered and raised his eyelids suggestively, long lashes casting sweeping shadows across his face as they moved. Doyoung thought it would be nice to leave him hanging for once so Taeyong actually have to ask to be kissed when he wanted it, but he hadn't been able to hold out for that long yet.

 

He pulled Taeyong in and laid a firm kiss on his pliant mouth, through which effervescent laughter bubbled. It pulled a grin onto Doyoung's own face.

 

Come what may, they'd do their best to have each other until the end.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sooo it's over. Sorry for leaving everyone hanging for over a month!
> 
> Thank you so much to everyone who read this and let me know. I honestly wouldn't have finished this without all of you <333 This is the first time I've ever finished anything with chapters in it ahahah and I couldn't have done it alone. It's been fun!
> 
> (last of all, I'll archive-lock this one day now that it's over.)

**Author's Note:**

> I'm on twitter at [taeyongiiee](https://twitter.com/taeyongiiee) and tumblr at [taeyongie](http://taeyongie.tumblr.com/)! Please talk to me hahah


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